


The Return

by IcyGlaceon



Category: Splatoon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-25
Updated: 2018-07-25
Packaged: 2019-06-15 21:10:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 27,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15421665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IcyGlaceon/pseuds/IcyGlaceon
Summary: This was my first ever Splatoon fanfiction, which I originally published on Splatoon Amino. Some things have been changed from the original post, however.Some of the early chapters, to me at least, aren't that amazing, but by the time I had finished Chapter 6, I began to know what I was doing.So I present to you, The Return!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was my first ever Splatoon fanfiction, which I originally published on Splatoon Amino. Some things have been changed from the original post, however.  
> Some of the early chapters, to me at least, aren't that amazing, but by the time I had finished Chapter 6, I began to know what I was doing.   
> So I present to you, The Return!

"10 seconds left guys! Let's give it all we've got!"

"Kay' David!"

10... 9... 8... 7… 6… 5… 4… 3… 2… 1…

GAME!

\----------------------------------------

As soon as the game finished, it was time to find the results. If Team High Tide won, this would be their 100th consecutive win in Turf Wars.

The team waited impatiently for the results, crossing their fingers that they would claim victory. But as the final results were about to be posted…

The power cut out.

The team left the lobby, annoyed due to the sudden power outage.

David was the most annoyed, being the team's leader. His go-to weapon? The Splat Roller. He was 16 and had been playing for about two years now. He preferred to keep two of his tentacles, which happened to be dark blue, tied up while the rest hung behind his head. His eyes were dark blue as well.

Next up was David's twin sister, Abigail. She was the team's sniper and favored the Charger class, without a preference for one weapon. Just like her brother, she too had been playing for two years. Her tentacles were neon pink and hung down. Her eyes were also neon pink.

Cassie, the team's more leveled player, wasn't extremely ticked off like her teammates, but she was still annoyed. She had recently bought a pair of Splat Dualies, which she had been using as her main weapon since she got them. Cassie had turquoise tentacles in a complex-ish style of a bow on top of her head, with two tentacles hanging down in front of her face, and two behind her ears. Here eyes were turquoise in color.

Last up was Nick, who used a Heavy Splatling. He was the quiet member, and didn't voice his opinion on the sudden power outage. However, he too was annoyed. He had his tentacles styled with one covering his left eye and the rest cut off, with the exception of two ones that hung in the back, with his tentacle color of choice being green. His eyes were dark green.

\----------------------------------------

When they exited the lobby into Inkopolis Square, an Inkling quickly spotted them and ran up to the team. It was a friend of David's, Jared. He was panting, and when he talked, heavy breaths interrupted his words. "While you *pant* guys were trying to *pant* snag your 100th consecutive *pant* win, the Great Zapfish was *pant* stolen by the Octarians!" He looked towards Cassie. "Cassie *pant* you're probably going to freak out when I tell *pant* you this... You know Callie?" Cassie nodded. "Well... she was *pant* squidnapped!"

If David hadn't covered her mouth in time, Cassie's scream would have echoed throughout the entire square, alerting everyone.

\----------------------------------------

Meanwhile, an Octoling sat in an alleyway, watching the discussion between the team and Jared. She wasn't an elite, and thus, her only real job was to attack anyone who tried to attack her kind. She knew that she'd be called into her post soon, as her leader, General Octavio, had stolen the Great Zapfish. However, the icing on the cake was the fact that he had also squidnapped Callie and reprogrammed her brain so she didn't know who she really was.

Her squadron, Squadron 86, was happy about everything that happened. So was she. But there was always a sad longing in her heart after her squadron was banned from turfing. Just because she wasn't strong enough… she shook her head. It was a happy time for her squadron and her kind.

But she was a soldier. At least, that's what society wanted her to be. But now she was here. Aboveground in a city populated by what her enemy was. But with her E-Liter 4K Scope (She preferred to call it the 4K Scope, however), a spoil of her first battle two years ago, she would be a fairly good sniper.

She wanted to be the hero. She wanted to do Turf Wars again, join a team, and make it to the top. She wanted to be somebody. Not a soldier in Squadron 86, not "another female Octoling", and not a sniper who rarely gets to even use her E4 Scope. Even if she'd have to leave home every day, even if she would be the only Octoling on the team, she'd do it.

It was time to be an epic hero.

\----------------------------------------

"Well, I want to get to the bottom of this!" Abigail said confidently. "Even if I have to temporarily leave the team!"

David glared at her. "You promised to be loyal to our team! You're my sister! I won't let you do this!"

"I don't care. You may be the team's leader and my brother, but you're not in control of my actions! You'll just have to find a new sniper!" Abigail turned around and ran off to who-knows where.

\----------------------------------------

That was the Octoling's cue. The team needed a sniper, and she could fulfill that role. She quietly walked up to the group, hoping that they would hear her out and allow her to fill the empty slot on the team.

She was noticed right away by the dark blue one with the tied-up tentacles. He whispered to the others, followed by walking up to her. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be underground with your kin?"

"I... I... I… want to fill the empty slot on your team. I'm a sniper, just like your sister."

David looked at her. "How did you know that Abigail was my sister?"

"I was hiding in an alley. I heard your entire conversation. My name's Tessa, and I'll join your team if you let me."

The members of Team High Tide talked among themselves for a bit.   
"Should we do it?"  
"We need a sniper."  
"But she's an Octoling!"  
"So?"  
"We need to hire SOMEONE... and even then, she could be good at filling the position..."  
"But we don't know how good she is!"  
"Well, she's better than nothing."  
"But we could find a new sniper while the power is still out."  
"It could be restored at any moment!"  
"Well… uh…"   
"All in favor of inviting her to join the team, say 'aye'."  
"Aye"  
"Aye"  
"Aye"  
David turned towards Tessa. "You called yourself Tessa, right? Welcome to Team High Tide." He extended his right hand towards Tessa.

Tessa was ecstatic. She could turf again! As for what her squadron's leader wanted, that could wait until nighttime.

 "I have to go now, before my squadron's leader gets mad. Let's meet up tonight, because I have something to show you. Right here, where we first met." She than ran off.

\----------------------------------------

While Tessa was invited to join Team High Tide, Abigail swore that she saw something in an alleyway, which quickly disappeared into a grate. Being the curious Inkling that she was, she followed it.

\----------------------------------------

Before she knew it, she was zipping up a jacket and pulling on some boots. She would finally help get to the bottom of the mystery of the disappearing Great Zapfish and Callie's sudden squidnapping!

When she finished, she did a quick spin for the Inkling that had recruited her. As for who that was, it was Marie, one of the two members that made up The Squid Sisters.

However, it also turned out (To Abigail's surprise) that she was a member of a group called the New Squidbeak Splatoon. Apparently, the group needed a new agent to look into the mysterious disappearance of Callie and the Great Zapfish.

Thus, Abigail officially became Agent 4, the successor to Agent 3 that Abigail admired so much. She grinned, as before she had found out that to get to the bottom of the investigation and keep the city's energy at a temporary constant, she would have to save Zapfish by going underground with a transport kettle and looking for it. However, each individual Zapfish was heavily protected by Octarians, meaning that her missions would be far from easy.

Most said that a regular Zapfish could provide 2 day's worth of power for the city. So in a way, Turf Wars could still be held.

But to Abigail, all that really mattered was helping her kind.

\----------------------------------------

While of this was happening, however, a nameless creature from the era before that of the Inklings opened her eyes for the first time in 12,000 years.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kelly's Universal Translator Necklace has a 90% of missing a word or letter. Missing letters are designated with an "X", and are used when Kelly is talking to an Inkling when it is not her POV, and when an Inkling is talking to Kelly in her POV.  
> Also, when Abigail and Micaela do their Octoling mission, it is before the first boss.

12,000 years ago...

"Global warming is still a problem and with the sea rising, humanity seems to be doomed…"

Kelly turned off the TV. The reports were always about the rising sea levels and/or about how humans are screwed. At least Project Return existed.

Project Return was a plan to return humanity to its former glory if it were to be completely wiped out due to the current problem of sea levels rising. 150 subjects from around the world were to be frozen underground for 12,000 years, in which the ice would be thawed and humanity would slowly but surely repopulate whatever was left of the world.

Kelly, after constant begging, was to be buried with most of her belongings, just like the ancient pharaohs of Egypt that she had learned about in school. Some of her belongings had personal value, like her beat-up recorder from 4th grade, stuffed animals, video games, the list went on. Others were more important, such as freeze-dried food, clothing in weatherproof bags, and the Universal Translator Necklace, which was a recently developed technology meant to break language barriers. The necklace was fashionable, but could also be used to translate entire conversations so anyone in it could understand every single word of it. It had a 90% success rate with translation, so if Kelly encountered something with a unique language, she'd be able to understand most of it.

As days passed, Kelly's belongings were transferred to where she would be frozen and partially buried. But than the day came. As she lay down in the pod that would hold her for 12,000 years, she thought of what the future would be like. Would there be talking animals? Or technology that was complex, just like in the movies? Or would the planet just be a large wasteland, with no life in sight?

As she felt the cold surround her body, her eyes closed for what could be the last time and the world faded to black.

\-----------------------------------

12,000 years later…

Kelly's eyes snapped open after what had felt like hours, but was really thousands of years. The ice that encased her was gone. "It actually worked…" she whispered to herself. She got up, changed her outfit, and walked around.

"Well, the moment of truth…". She climbed out of her underground chamber. She squinted as sunlight filled her vision for the first time in 12 millennia. As far as she could see, there was no life in sight.

That was, until she noticed a city in the distance. Seeing a sign of life motivated Kelly, so she began to run to the city.

\-----------------------------------

Meanwhile, Abigail was getting ready for her first mission. She had found three hidden transport kettles after 50 minutes' worth of inking the area with a Splattershot that she had to use when on duty.

She approached one of them and stood on top, getting ready to switch into squid form and begin her duties.

But than she heard footsteps coming from behind her. It was a hybrid species. Abigail quickly turned around to see who had approached her from behind.

That who was an Inktoling, or an Inkocto for short. It was the term for a hybrid form of an Inkling and an Octoling. They were very rare, and most were aggressive. With a heightened level of an already scarily high intelligence, they were a powerful threat.

Abigail had learned about a few of the different Inkling hybridizations in science class, but she had never met one in squid.

"W-w-what!?" She yelled, pointing her finger at her.

"Nice to meet you. You're Agent 4, right? I just got recruited."

"Well, technically, its Abigail, but yeah, I'm Agent 4."

"You ready for our first mission?"

"Heck yeah!" Abigail switched forms, with the Inktoling following her. Abigail was a little nervous about her, but the hybrid was fairly friendly, so she hoped that she stayed that way.

\-----------------------------------

"Finally!" Kelly said, panting. She had finally reached the city after a few hours. At this point, the sky had begun to darken.

But some red flags waved in her head.

First was the writing around the city. It was unrecognizable, and Kelly didn't even know what wrote it.

Next up was absence of life in this part of the city. Everything was boarded up, as if something had been there, but moved. Most of the boards looked like they were placed recently, meaning that the move had happened up to a year ago.

The area was large and open, with lots of TVs and buildings. It looked relatively modern. But the standout of the area was the large broadcasting tower located to the back of the area. Kelly walked up to it, wondering what its purpose was. Whatever it had been, it wasn't used for it anymore.

But as she was exploring the area, she heard footsteps. Kelly quickly turned around to see what was behind her.

But they had noticed her before she had noticed them.

They appeared to be somewhat like humans, with a few standout differences.

First off were their ears, which were triangular in shape. Three out of the four of them had them, and the fourth probably had them covered with the second major difference- instead of hair, they had different colored tentacles. One had green ones, another had dark blue ones, the third one had black ones, and the last one had magenta ones. The third and final difference were the markings around their eyes. Three out of the four of them had a black, mask-like marking around their eyes, while the fourth one had circles around her eyes.

"What are you?" Kelly asked.

The blue-tentacled one spoke first, showing that there were three sharper teeth in his mouth. Two on the top row of teeth and one on the bottom. "Nick, Cassie, … I are called InklinXX. We … from sqXXds. Tessa … … Octoling. Her kinX evolved from octopi."

"Well, I'm a human. Humans are what came before you, unless you were around 12,000 years ago. You can call me Kelly."

"A LoXX Species!?" The blue one yelled. They than proceeded to freak out.

"Guys! We need tX go now!" Tessa yelled. She than looked at Kelly. "You can … I guess, if you want to."

"Where the heck are we going!?"

"Where I live. I … to show David, Cassie, and NiXX something." She gestured to the blue-tentacled, turquoise-tentacled, and green-tentacled one as she said their names. "Hopefully you like crawling through …, enclosed, spaces." She opened up a manhole. "We're going down here. Also, I'm Tessa. Nice to meet you."

The four of them disappeared down the manhole, followed by Kelly, who slowly crawled through.

\-----------------------------------

They eventually made it into a large room with walls made from hard-packed dirt. There were all sorts of weapons hanging from them, and not a single weapon class was untouched. Rollers, shooters, splatlings… if it existed, it was in that room. There were also rusty knives, swords, and even guns that didn't rely on ink to shoot.

If someone went in that room unprepared, they would most likely die.

"I present to you, Harry's weapon room. Featuring every weapon imaginable, even some from the time before us!Most of … are spoils of war. Others, he dug up!" Tessa happily waved her hand around the room. "But this isn't what I want to show you." She walked to the end of the room and opened up a trapdoor in the ground. "Down here."

David, Nick, Cassie, and Kelly lowered themselves down the door one by one to find themselves in a room which had a wall made entirely out of glass. There was assorted old junk stored neatly on shelves and on the floor.

"What is this?" David asked.

"Squadron 86's Secret Room of Super Old Secrets, AKA the Vault! The leader of it, Harry, built it to store random artifacts that he found. If you didn't notice, I'm in Squadron 86." She pointed to the emblem on the top piece of her armor, which read 86. "Harry's an Elite and the squadron's leader." Tessa told the group. "As for the glass, we can see out of it, but others can't see into it. So we can watch the concert without somebody finding out. Harry made it himself! Speaking of the concert, it's about to start!"

Two figures walked onto the stage that dominated the back of the room.

"Who … thXXX?" Kelly asked. She was playing around with a machine plugged into the right corner of the room.

"I might as well start with the Inkling." Tessa explained. "Her name is Callie. She's a really famous pop icon in the squid world. Or at least, was." She grinned. "We squidnapped her when she least expected it and used those glasses that she's wearing to rewire her brain! Her memories, thought process, everything!" She proudly declared. "The octopus next to her is Octavio. He runs almost everything down here. Including the military…" her right hand trembled.

Suddenly music echoed through the chamber.

"I … this!" Kelly happily said. She had never expected the UTN to translate music! "NoX let'X see … Will thXX dangXd XXing work?" She pressed a few buttons, and a new song filled up the room. But this time, Kelly was singing it.

"Yeah! That's rXgX! We're gXnna gXvX our aXl!"

Her singing was really good. She sang a few more songs of the time of the humans, before…

"Thank you all for coming! Here's to capturing the Great Zapfish!"

Tessa looked at the group nervously. "You have to go. Now."

\-----------------------------------

David and the rest of the team quickly followed her direction, with Kelly lagging behind. But the group were able to get away safely.

"… was tiXing." Kelly said.

"Well, we have a long bike ride ahead, so sorry." David told her.

The group walked over to an alleyway, revealing four bikes. "One was for Tessa, but I think that it'll work for you. Your name was Kelly, right?"

Kelly nodded.

As they biked home, Kelly told David about human culture while he told her about Inkling culture, which both sides found fascinating. Nick was the most interested in human culture, as he liked to study science and history.

During the trip, David found out that the machine Kelly sang off of was called a 'karaoke machine', which played music while the words to a song were shown on a screen in what Kelly called "Human". The user could then sing along to the song.

\-----------------------------------

The group eventually made it back to their apartment.

The group went in to see Abigail in her more casual clothes, which consisted of a jean vest, green t-shirt with a pink heart on it, some jean shorts, and a pair of bright blue sneakers.

Abigail looked at Kelly, than looked at David. "W-w-what did you bring here!?" She yelled.

"Calm down sis. She won't kill you. She's one of them."

"A Lost Species? But they all died in the Great Flood!" Abigail replied.

Nick broke up the argument by telling Kelly, "Before you go to bed, hand me whatever you have to translate our language. I'll try and make it where it guarantees that it translates your words to ours perfectly. When combined with the Disguise Suit that I made, you'll make a very believable Inkling. Heck, you'll even be able to use ink and switch forms!"

"Switch foXXms?" Kelly asked.

"You see, Inklings have two forms. A humanoid form, and a squid form." Nick said. He quickly turned into a squid before changing back into his humanoid form. "In our humanoid form, we can use different weapons to shoot ink, while in squid form, we can swim around in it, and replenish it faster."

"Do you knXXw where… oh, …!" Kelly passed out on a sofa.

"So, what have you been up to for the past two days? Oh, and why is the power on?" David asked Abigail.

"A lot. What I've been doing also has to deal with the power so…"

"David, remember learning about the Great Turf War in school?"

David nodded.

"Octarians. They're real. I don't mean just Octolings, like Marina. I mean all the different classes that we learned about. They're not some sort of crazy cover-up for what happened two years ago or some history lesson. They're really real David." Abigail nervously said.

David looked at his sister.

"So, in going to kick their butts and bring back the Great Zapfish. And maybe Callie, but no guarantees on that one." She paused.

"When I was about to go after a regular Zapfish, I met this Inkling/Octoling hybrid, who called herself Micaela. We tried to go after it together, but got our butts kicked because we couldn't work together. So, we went home. The next day, we decided to build up each other's trust and went back to attempt to bring back a Zapfish.

But when we got there, the Zapfish wasn't guarded. At this point, it was nighttime, so I just guessed that they were done for the day. So, we brought back a Zapfish."

David heated up some ramen in the microwave, than looked at Kelly lying on the couch. "Cool. As for Kelly, should we let her live with us?"

"I guess… It's not like she has anywhere else to go…" Abigail said.

"I FINISHED IT! FINALLY! THE DISGUISE SUIT AND ITS BUILT IN TRANSLATOR ARE DONE!" Nick yelled from the guest bedroom.

"I guess we might as well see what it is." David said.

\-------------------------------------

When the pair arrived, they saw Nick holding up a translucent bodysuit with a microchip underneath where the wearer's chin would be. "FINALLY!" Nick paused for a moment. "If I can trust Kelly or Tessa with it, than maybe I can see if it works!" he turned around, revealing that he was wearing a lab coat and his Paintball Mask that he used when he was working on making things that had the potential to explode or start to smoke. He didn't use it outside of making things. He didn't have any shoes on, as he was inside.

"You like it?" Nick asked.

"What does it do?" Cassie asked, as she had just walked inside.

"It disguises the user so they look like an Inkling! So, if I can trust her, Kelly can use it! Tessa could also use it as well."

Cassie shrugged. "Let's go to bed and talk later."

"Agreed." David said.

\-------------------------------------

Meanwhile…

Tessa nervously stood in line with the rest of the members of her squadron, waiting to see if Harry would inflict some sort of punishment on her. She was really close to "Going Rouge", which was Harry's term for quitting the military for a life in Inkopolis. Multiple Octolings went rouge after an Inkling by the code name of Agent 3 stole the Great Zapfish back for Inklingkind.

On that cursed night, many Octolings realized that the military was screwed and used the chaos to escape. Tessa didn't know too many of the rouges, except for one who had truly made a name for herself.

Marina.

Even tough it had only happened a day ago, Tessa was still shocked about how Marina was a pop idol, and she even hosted Inkopolis' news program.

But that didn't really matter. Harry was approaching her, and Tessa started to imagine the horrible punishments that Harry would happily inflict on her.

"Tessa, Tessa, Tessa… I didn't see you at the concert tonight. WHERE THE SHELL WERE YOU!" Harry barked at her.

"I was watching from the Vault. There's a better view there." Tessa said nervously.

Harry leaned towards her. "Well, if so, than tell me what song Callie sang at the beginning of the concert. Now."

Tessa shuddered. "Giv- I mean Bomb Rush Blush!"

"Correct." Harry smiled. "You know what, maybe you were there. Also, I don't want to lose another member. So, I will let you off with a warning. One more mishap, and you're off of Squadron 86. Forever."

Forever? Tessa didn't want that to happen. But then, Harry continued. "Also, after the concert, the other Elites and I were informed of a Zapfish going missing. So, you girls are expected to be on duty for at least 2 hours a day. As for me, I have… 'special privileges'."

Tessa had a faint idea on what said privileges were. "Probably something that has to do with Callie…" she muttered under her breath. "And or Sasha."

Sasha was one of the former members of Squadron 86, who died in a failed attempt to steal the Great Zapfish one week prior to when Tessa had joined. It had just been Squadron 86 in the mission, and a group of Inklings caught and killed them all. Except for Harry, of course. He was promoted to leader and got 4 new members.

Lilly, who was the youngest and not that confident. She didn't have a preference for what weapon she used, so she usually used the Octoshot.

Aria, who was a pro at using the .52 Gal, but extremely reckless.

And Tessa, herself, who was the oldest of the four, if that even mattered. But she knew that she was starting to turn into a rouge. A rouge with an E-Liter 4K Scope.

"I expect you four to be up at 5 in the morning. Okay?"

"Yeah!" The rest of the squadron answered.

\-------------------------------------

The next day…

Kelly opened her eyes to see David in her face, holding some clothes. "These are for you. Put the bodysuit on first tough."

Kelly quickly ran off to change, and when she came out…

An Inkling with light pink tentacles in the same style of Kelly's came out. Her eyes were neon green, and for gear, she was wearing Squid Clip-Ons, Punk Whites, and a White Inky Rider.

"You know, it was really nice of you to let me use this outfit! It's cute!" Kelly said.

"Thanks!" Cassie replied.

\-------------------------------------

Meanwhile, Abigail and Micaela met up by the manhole, ready to retrieve a Zapfish. They somewhat knew what they were doing, but the pair hoped for the best.

A few seconds after arriving, the pair found themselves underground in what looked like a ramshackle Turf War stage. A voice sounded through the speakers in Abigail's headset. "You see those small Zapfishes around the area, right? Those are Mini Zapfishes, and you need to collect 8 of them. However, they're guarded by Octolings, so expect more of a challenge." Said voice belonged to Marie, as she was helping out Abigail and Micaela on the duo's mission to bring back the Great Zapfish.

"Okay." Abigail said, a confident tone in her voice.

"You ready?" Micaela asked. She then quickly pointed to the ground. "We have a real spawn point this time, and I'd presume that the Octolings also have one. So, they will probably put up a tough fight."

"Yeah, I'm ready." Abigail told her.

"Then let's go." Micaela replied.

"I'll take the left side of the area, and you can take the right side. Are you okay with that?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

\-------------------------------------

"Today will be a very monumental day in your life, Kelly. You will be participating in your very first Turf War!" David grinned.

Kelly got all her gear on in a changing room, where she couldn't be seen. For a weapon, she would be using an Areospray MG, which was formerly Cassie's, similarly to her gear. The only exception were her Squid Clip-ons, which were a gift from Abigail, who didn't want them.

"It's a shame that Tessa is busy and can't play. We're down a sniper." Cassie said.

"But we are a team, and can make do." David replied.

"We're starting!" Cassie said.

"Teams, to your spawn pads!" A voice echoed through a loudspeaker.

Team High Tide and their opponents, Team Glass Pearl, which was lead by some squids that David and Nick knew from school, super jumped to the map that they were going to be using, which in this case, was Port Mackerel.

David was very familiar with the sensation, but he could see that Kelly wasn't really enjoying it.

When they arrived, the two ink colors that would be used were determined, and they ended up being dark blue and orange, with Team High Tide being assigned dark blue and Team Glass Pearl being assigned orange.

'The classic color pair. Pretty fitting for the scenario, as it is Kelly's first Turf War.' David thought to himself.

"Nick, Cassie, you already know the drill. Kelly, the goal of a Turf War is to get as much ground covered as possible. David saw Kelly smiling. He knew that she was excited.

"3… 2… 1… go!" The announcer called out.

"Kelly, you can flank left. If you run into any Inklings, shoot them before they can do the same to you. Also, if your Special Weapon is charged, use it when you think the time is right, and remember to use your sub-weapon, which is the Suction Bomb." Kelly nodded.  
"Cassie, you will flank left." Cassie nodded in reply. "Nick, you can come down the middle with me."

The first two minutes weren't too eventful, with the exception of Kelly being constantly splatted. But when the final minute rolled around, the odds of Team High Tide winning became ever in their favor.

Kelly was doing okay and was getting splatted less than she had in the first minute. Tough the Opening Gambit ability on her Squid Clip-Ons were useless at that point in the game, the fact that the two secondary abilities on the gear were Swim Speed Up helped her out. Kelly also had Run Speed Up on both her White Inky Rider and Punk Whites, helping her cover more ground. Special Power Up and Special Charge Up, which were the primary abilities on her clothing and shoes respectively also gave a nice buff to her Special, which was the Curling Bomb Launcher. She wasn't the best at using it, but when she hit something with at least 90% accuracy, the results were devastating.

The game ended, and it was time to find out the results. David crossed his fingers that his team would win, despite Kelly's lack in Turf War experience.

"And the winners are Team High Tide, 48.9% to 45.6%!"

David, Nick, Cassie, and Kelly high fived. They had won! As they left the Lobby for a lunch break, the whole team was happy.

\-------------------------------------

Meanwhile…

While Kelly was having her first Turf War, Abigail and Micaela were in a dire situation. They had saved 7 out of the 8 Mini Zapfishes, with the occasional run-in with an Octoling. The two had gotten used to their Hero Shots at this point, and had no real trouble taking them out.

But then, when they were about to get the last Mini Zapfish, a group of 4 Octolings ambushed them! All four of them wore the standard Octoling military armor, with each one having an 86 on their armor.

All of them were female, except for one male. But the male was different. He had black tentacles, and two pieces of kelp were attached to his goggles. "Attack them." He commanded.

The group of Octolings than attempted to attack Micaela and Abigail. All four Octolings had weapons that were usually used by Inklings, which confused Abigail for a moment. But as she realized how they obtained them, she was splatted by one of the females, who had an E-Liter 4K Scope.

Abigail quickly ran to the last Zapfish, ready to take on the group. She then noticed a can hidden behind a box that read "Splashdown". Abigail quickly ran to grab it, and obtained the can. She confidently strolled towards the Octolings, and when she reached them, she activated her Special, taking all four out at once. "Grab the Zapfish!" She told Micaela. Micaela grabbed the Zapfish, and the two returned back to their base.

"We got a Zapfish!" Abigail happily said.

"Great job Agents." Marie told them. "You two can go back home, as you look really tired."

Abigail didn't need to be told that it was okay to go, as she felt like she was going to pass out. Thus, she went back through the manhole, towards home.

\-------------------------------------

Tessa sighed. They had lost another Zapfish! But she knew where she could go. She walked to a hidden door near the Turf War stage, and headed through a tight, dark tunnel.

When she emerged, she was in a cave filled with sunlight. A small pool of water took up the center of the cavern. She walked up to the pond, seeing her reflection.

Her armor was torn and dented, but that could easily be fixed. But what scared her were the cuts all over her body, bleeding magenta ink.

As each drop hit the water, her reflection distorted for a second. Then, Tessa began to cry.

"Who-who am I? I-I-I'm not a Rouge, but not a loyal member of the military. I play Turf Wars on a team of Inklings, but at night, I cannot. H-H-Harry is starting to get suspicious of me, and he can't know about the Moonpool. I-I-I-I'm on a borderline, and I'm about to cross it. I'm not sure how, but I know I will."

She wiped some of the tears off her face. She couldn't come back looking like this! Tessa then picked up her 4K Scope and left.


	3. Chapter 3

  
The next day…

"Kelly, I present to you, GrizzCo!" David said.

"Wait… why arX we goXXg here?" Kelly asked. She was wearing the Disguise Suit, and the only cephalopods that knew what she really was were Cassie, Nick, and David

"You're going to experience the adrenaline rush of going on a Salmon Run!" David continued.

"Salmon XXat now?" Kelly asked.

"Salmon Run. Goal's simple. Fight Salmonids, take their eggs, and put em' in a basket before the wave leaves."

"OkXX. Sounds … enXugh."

"Oh, almost forgot! Weapons are randomized, so don't expect to use the Areospray MG like yesterday." David explained.

The group walked into the GrizzCo building. When they got there, a speaker turned on. "David, Cassie, Nick, and who's this new squid?"

"Her name's Kelly." He turned to Kelly. "Mr. Gizz is the guy who runs this whole operation."

"So, what are today's weapons?" Nick asked.

"Let's see… Dapple Dualies, Splatterscope, .52 Gal, and the Slosher. NOW GET TO THE BOAT AND DO YOUR JOB!"

The four walked to the back of the shop, where a boat was waiting. The group set off, not sure about what they would encounter.

\-------------------------------------

"SQUEE!!!! We only have to save one more Zapfish before fighting the area's first boss! They probably aren't using the Great Zapfish, but that means that we're one step closer to saving it!" Micaela happily said.

Abigail shrugged. "So, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" She switched forms and went through the transport kettle.

Micaela quickly followed suit, hoping for the best.

\-------------------------------------

Meanwhile…

"Girls, you're off duty today. Do whatever the shell you want, but remember. NO TURF WARS OR GOING TO THE SURFACE!!!!!!!!!!!!" Harry said. "Also, be back by 6 P.M."

Tessa was nervous, as she was doing both. But hey, she had a devotion to Team High Tide. She waited for Harry to go, than got to the transport kettle that would take her to the surface. But as she prepared to go up, she heard two voices. One male, one female.

"You did great two days ago."

"Really?"

"Seriously. You killed it with that performance."

The female laughed. "Heh. Harry, you're really nice. I'm shocked that I didn't know about you until a few days ago."

"You know, you remind me a lot of Sasha. The singing, the friendliness, the optimistic attitude. If she wasn't dead, I could see you two being friends."

Tessa heard a button being pressed. After, some music turned on.

"Sasha would use this thing and make up her own lyrics to the music that played on this thing."

The female started to sing.   
We'll take on those evil Inklings one by one, before we hear their screams. We'll get to reclaim the surface, Splat them with all means. We'll shoot and fight them with full force, they won't know what just hit them. 'Cause will get our revenge, finally win, tonight!

Tessa than recognized the two voices. Harry's was the male voice. But the female's?

Callie's. She truly was a different squid now.

\-------------------------------------

David, Cassie, Nick and Kelly arrived at the location that they were needed at. "SpawniXX … at hiXX XidX!" David yelled. Kelly grabbed on to her assigned weapon for the first wave, which was the Slosher.

"Alright … foXr! I see a … XXlmoXid coming in … GET TO WORK!"

"What's … quoXa?" Cassie asked.

"8 Eggs. ProbbXlly … Kelly'X new to … thinX." Nick answered.

"Kelly, behXXnd you!" Kelly turned around to see a group of Salmonids coming towards her. She started to attack them with her Slosher, and eventually killed the whole lot of them.

At this point, Nick, Cassie, and David had been able to deliver 5 eggs to the basket. David than ran up to Kelly, a Steel Eel following him.

"Nick! ShXot it … the bXck!"

Suddenly, the eel fell apart, leaving behind 3 gold eggs. David and Nick each grabbed one, and Kelly, following the two, grabbed the third.

"15 secXXds … juXX stay aliXe." David commanded.

"Okay!" Kelly answered.

The wave then ended, with the final number of golden eggs collected being 12.

"Next wave guXX!" Nick yelled, as they super jumped back to the start point.

"'Kay!" Kelly yelled.

Fog then began to collect around the area.

"Oh squid…" David moaned.

\-------------------------------------

Kelly tried to look around, but all she could see were her hands and her pair of Dapple Dualies. "David! Nick! Cassie! Where are you!" She yelled.

"This Xay!" David yelled.

Kelly followed his voice, until she could make out his silhouette. "David!" She happily called out. But as soon as she did, something hit her, and the world went dark.

The sensation that she felt was somewhat like that of getting splatted in a Turf War, but much more permanent. Kelly then felt some ink wash over her, and she was up again.

"You'rX …" David said, picking up a Golden Egg and throwing it at Kelly, who caught it. "Put … haXX on my sXoulXeX, and … go to the XXsket."

Kelly did so, and David started walking, splatting the occasional Salmonoid. The two reached the basket and threw the eggs that they were carrying in, meeting the quota of 9 eggs.

As soon as the quota was met, the wave retreated, defeated.

After a few seconds, the third and final wave rushed towards Team High Tide and Kelly. The wave itself was no problem, as Kelly had finally gotten the hang of Salmon Running.

After, the group got paid and left.

\-------------------------------------

Abigail and Micaela slowly approached the Boss Kettle.

"You ready?" Abigail asked.

"Yeah, I guess." Micaela answered.

The pair went through to find themselves in a large room with a Zapfish in the middle of it, surrounded by a puddle of ink. The pair super jumped to the middle and approached it.

"Dang, that was easy!" Abigail announced.

Then, a tentacle came out of the ink and grabbed the Zapfish.

"Girl, you jinxed it!" Micaela said.

Then the owner of the tentacle rose out of the ink, and it looked like…

"An oven? Sheesh, talk about not being creative." Abigail rolled her eyes. "I'll just call it the Octo Oven, because why not."

"LOOK OUT!" Micaela yelled.

Abigail jumped to the left. If she had stood there for one more second, then she would have been hit with a thing that looked like a loaf of bread.

"How do we take this thing on?" Abigail asked.

Micaela shrugged. "We have to get to the top, I guess."

Then, all of the loaves of bread in the Octo Oven sprang out, forming a sort of… path?

"Abigail! Ink the thing and get on top!"

Abigail nodded and started shooting ink at the Oven. She then switched forms and swam up to the top of it. After, she shot the tentacle sticking out of the top until it disappeared.

Abigail and Micaela then super jumped back onto the spawn pad.

"That was- oh carp…" Micaela said.

Pieces of metal attached themselves to the sides of the loaves of bread, and ink pistons sprung out of the ground!

"Well, the job isn't going to do itself!" Abigail said, swimming over to the jump pad.

The pair then repeated the process two times over, until they got the Zapfish. Abigail and Micaela high fived after, and returned to the surface, where Marie was waiting.

"Good job you two. Now, you can head over to that jump pad over there to get to the next area."

Abigail and Micaela went over to the jump pad, switched forms, and headed to the next area.

But first, there was a radio broadcast that echoed through the pair's headsets. Abigail wasn't paying too much attention, but got the general idea of the broadcast.

Sheldon, the owner of Inkopolis' weapon shop, Ammo Knights, was going to lend the two agents special versons of some of the different weapons, which could be upgraded with power eggs. Abigail tuned out the rest, as long conversations bored her.

Then, the two arrived at their destination.

"I know this is annoying but this is a good time to call it a day." Abigail said.

Micaela shrugged. "Good idea."

\-------------------------------------

"David! Kelly! Nick! Cassie!" Tessa yelled as the three Inklings and human walked out of the GrizzCo building.

"Tessa!" David cried.

"So, … am I suXXing for?" Kelly asked.

"You main the Areospray, so Cassie, are you okay with sitting this one out?" David asked.

Cassie shrugged. "I guess."

"Nice to hear! See ya!" David replied.

Team High Tide then walked over to the Lobby.

The foursome then grabbed their weapons, threw on their gear, and got ready to go to the spawn pad. "Come on…" Tessa said under her breath.

Then, the four of them were off!

This time around, the ink colors were pink and green, with Team High Tide being green and another team, Team Shadow Strike being pink. The map? Inkblots Art Academy.

"Kelly, try and cover as much turf as possible as you flank left. Nick, you can try flanking right. I'll head down the middle. Tessa, you should find a place that you are comfortable sniping at. Okay?"

"Yeah!"

"SuXe!"

"Really, as long as we win…"

"BEGIN!"

Tessa was a little nervous, but a few breaths calmed her down. She eventually found a somewhat sheltered wall where she could hit anyone who stepped in her way.

As time passed, Tessa began to get a little bored, but she knew from years of experience with Harry that she couldn't let her guard down.

But with 37 seconds left on the clock, a victim passed. Tessa saw the boy through her scope and shot. A perfect one hit KO.

"Yes!" Tessa said under her breath, combined with a fist pump.

"AND GAME!" The announcer said, blowing a whistle.

The eight competitors returned to the Lobby, where the final results would be shown.

The results?

53.5% to 48.9% in Team High Tide's favor!

Tessa grinned. Her first win in over a year! "We did it guys!" She yelled.

She saw David smile. He looked happy too.

\-------------------------------------

Later…

"Dang, that was one heck of a day!" Kelly happily announced. She and David had just arrived at home to find out that Abigail was making good progress on her quest. She had even made to the second major area that was known to have a high concentration of Zapfish!

"I know!" David said. "But we hXvX to rXst up fXX tomoXrXw…"

"Yeah, I guess. Say, do you guys have a shower? I really want to wash up!" Kelly said.

"Yeah, … haXe one." Abigail pointed to a door.

Kelly walked into the room behind that door, turned on the shower, and…

"HOLY FUDGE, HOW CAN YOU SHOWER IN THIS STUFF!!!!!"

Kelly came into the living room with a towel wrapped around her body and ink dripping from the ends of her hair. "Do you have a shower that uses water?"

"Wa-ter? Water … uX." David said. "But firXX, put sXmXthXXX on."

Kelly walked back into the showering room and put on a bathrobe. "Look, I'm going to bed. Okay?"

Abigail and David nodded in unison.

Kelly then went into her room, put on some pajamas, and fell asleep before her head hit the pillow.


	4. Chapter 4

"Listen girls. You're on duty today, and I don't want to hear a word of complaint out of you octopi. Cause if you do complain…" Harry moved his finger across his neck in a slicing gesture. "Now GO!"

Tessa was nervous. Why did she have to have the horrible fate of being of this squadron? Now, she had to fight Inklings almost every day. Just because some octopi wanted her to. She didn't even know who she was, or what side she was on!

But now was not the time to ponder. Tessa took a breath, grabbed her 4K Scope, and went to the field.

\-------------------------------------

"Well Kelly, since you've reached level 10, you now have the ability to play ranked battles!" David happily exclaimed.

"RankXd?" Kelly replied.

"To start you off, we'll play Rainmaker. It's goal is simple. Bring a special weapon called the Rainmaker to the enemy's base without getting splatted. Problem is, you can't super jump back to base when you have the Rainmaker. Let's go!"

After some preparation, the game started.

"Okay team, follow me!" David commanded.

The team followed David to the center of the map, which was Moray Towers for this game. When they made it, the Rainmaker was sitting in the middle, surrounded by a shield. The group destroyed it, and David took the weapon.

"Kelly, you can join me in protecting David. Nick has base protection duty." Cassie said.

Nick super jumped back to the spawn, while Cassie and Kelly charged the enemy base with David. The pair splatted anybody who crossed their path, making sure that they couldn't attack David.

But then, David heard the pounding of feet, which sounded too loud to belong to an Inkling.

"Oh carp…" he said, still holding on to the Rainmaker.

"Well, … sXreXeX." Kelly said.

\-------------------------------------

Meanwhile…

"I've always hated Dualies, Splat or otherwise." Abigail complained. "But at least we got a Zapfish."

Abigail and Micaela stood around a transport kettle. "You ready?" Micaela asked Abigail. She was maining the special Dualies that could be used when in duty. Abigail had stuck to using the standard Splattershot that could also be used when on duty.

The two switched forms, and headed down.

When they arrived, they had company. "Squid! Octolings!" Abigail cursed under her breath.

"Come on!" Micaela yelled.

"Let's approach them together!" Abigail commanded. "It'll make things sorta easier!"

"Okay? Let's try it!" Micaela said.

The group approached a guarded Mini Zapfish, ready to fight.

"Hey! Intruders!" An Octoling yelled. She and two other members of her species charged Abigail and Micaela.

The two tried to hold them back, and did, but they were outnumbered, and Abigail got splatted after they took two out. But when she returned to the area, Micaela was holding a Mini Zapfish, with a few cuts on her face and her Hero Suit damaged. The Mini Zapfish was immediately sent back to base, and the pair snuck towards the second Mini Zapfish they would need to achieve their goal. On the way, Abigail noticed two canned specials, being an Inkjet and a Curling Bomb Launcher.

Unfortunately, they had the misfortune of running into 5 Octolings, with one of them being an Elite. Abigail grinned, because of one shot from an Inkjet could splat an Inkling, wouldn't the same be true for Octolings?

"Micaela, grab the Zapfish while I distract the Octolings!" Abigail said. Her strategy may have sounded stupid, but there was a chance that it would work.

Abigail activated the Inkjet, commencing their mission. She started by taking out the one with the E-Liter 4K, scoped for accuracy's sake,but the Scope blindsided her, meaning that she could shot her with ease.

"Dang it Tessa!" The Elite yelled, before getting hit. He had a Octobrush on hand, which wasn't the best weapon for the job. But shortly after, he too was taken out.

The last three were picked off with fair ease, with Abigail's good aim. Micaela grabbed the Mini Zapfish, and Abigail super jumped back to the ground. "Dang, that was the most awesome and satisfying thing that I have done in a while." Abigail said. "Ready to get more Mini Zapfishes?"

"You bet." Micaela said excitedly.

\-------------------------------------

It came in. Fast. And when it came, it did not look like it would be playing with the team.

It looked like some sort of big cat, covered in armor. It looked like a real animal, but there was one thing that Kelly noticed as soon as it came. Wires were sticking out of a cut on its back leg.

But that didn't make it any weaker. It circled the team, as if it was picking out its prey.

David was shaking, holding the Rainmaker so hard that his hands were turning white.

The same went for Cassie.

Kelly was a little calmer than the others, as she had heard plenty on wild animal attacks. But she was still scared for her life.

"Nick? We could use some help here!" Kelly yelled. Nick super jumped to the group, just to be as shocked and scared as the others.

But Kelly yelling wasn't exactly the best idea, as it got the beast's attention.

It charged Kelly, picked her up in its teeth, and shook her around like she was a doll.

"This match of Rainmaker has been suspended! Both teams, back to the Lobby!"

The other team followed this command, but Team High Tide never left a squid- or human in this case, behind.

"Switch forms!" David yelled. Kelly did, but it didn't help.

"So this is how it ends. Eaten by a mountain lion in front of three people who are technically squids, while playing what their species considers a game. It's ridiculous! But still, I'm too young to die!" Kelly thought to herself.  
David then noticed the cut.

He charged up the Rainmaker and shot the (robotic) cat in the leg. It dropped Kelly, and switched its attention to David. "HXt it in … leg! NXaX the cut!" He commanded.

Before they knew it, the beast gave up and ran away. But then, Kelly realized something.

"It had some sort of octopus emblem on its chest armor. This thing was made to kill Inklings!" She said. "However, it seemed careless. Like an animal. But one meant to track and kill Inklings."

"A reaXonXXle concXXsiXn. It may … be tXuX, buX I cXXlXn't collXcX any dXXa on it." Nick said.

"Let's blow this pop stand." Kelly said. "It's a human phrase for let's go."

The team then returned back to the Lobby.

\-------------------------------------

Meanwhile…

"You were pitiful out there! Taken out by an Inkjet of all things? Than slacking off and not pursuing the Inklings that did the job? Pitiful I tell you, just pitiful! Sometimes I'm shocked that Octavio assigned you four to me!"

Tessa shivered. Harry's speeches weren't that nice in the first place, but mentioning the leader of the military was overdoing it.

"Ugh! I'm starting to sound like an Inkling!" Tessa thought to herself. "I have to sound more evil! But what is evil anyways? Aren't the bad guys in one story the good guys in another? Nah, sounds too philosophical. I was trained to fight and kill, not ponder!"

"Now go do something meaningful! I have… duties to attend to." Harry closed out his speech.

While the rest of the squadron ran off to do something, maybe train, Tessa snuck behind Harry. Octoling soldiers were trained to be sneaky and able to ambush, and Tessa took extra time and care to hone these skills.

Harry headed towards a room, and when she looked in, all of the elites were there. She stood in the hall and listened to whatever was going to be said.

"The Beast came back negative with no kills. However, Inkling ink was found on its legs around a cut that it got while approaching the targets and in its mouth. It is of the same color and most likely belongs to a group that has a close relationship. The ink is being studied right now."

"Also! One of our lieutenants has been defeated, and a pair of Inklings are responsible. They have also recently hurt 20% of our current active members of the military."

Tessa quickly did the math on her head. 20% could be changed into 1/5, and that could turn into .2, which was… Tessa blanked for a moment. 30. 30 Squadrons. Not only that, but she was in one of of them.

"So, all Octolings shall be on duty for at least 12 hours a day. This meeting is adjourned."

Tessa bolted. She couldn't get caught! But as she raced back to the Squadron's HQ, she internally raged at this new rule. Knowing Harry, those 10 hours of duty would change to 15, 20, or even the dreaded 24 hours. A whole day of duty was a nightmare to Tessa, and she shook the thought off.

Surprisingly, she beat Harry back to base. She then went down to the Vault, as Harry wouldn't be too suspicious of her being there.

"Harry!" She happily said when he came into the vault with a familiar but dreaded face.

"Well, this just went from bad to worse." Tessa thought to herself.

"Oh! This is the Octoling sniper that you were talking about, right?"

Harry nodded. "Yes. She sometimes gets the job done, but not always."

"Callie… heh heh…" Tessa awkwardly said. "Uhhhh, I think Agents 4 and 5 might be around. Gotta go!" She ran off to the one safe spot that she knew of.

The Moonpool.

"Can you rewrite the rewritten?" Tessa drew circles with a stick that she found in the sand surrounding the pool. "In your favor? In a way that's good, not evil? I sound like an idiot!" Tessa said. "This Inkling ideology is rubbling off on me!" Tessa put the stick down and skipped a stone from her stone pile across the water. The water calmed her nerves, even if it was harmful.

"Harry always tries to act cool around Callie. But if she finds out how he treats me and the squadron, than there's a chance, a slim one, that she will change her mind. If only I could get a promotion…" Tessa said. "But also, find my true self."

\-------------------------------------

"So, how was agent business?" David asked Abigail. Kelly was passed out on the couch after the beast attacked her, Nick was in his room doing science stuff, and David, Cassie, and Abigail were in the living room.

"It was good. We beat up a bunch of Octolings." Abigail replied.

"Did any of them have an E-Liter? Scoped model?" David said.

"One of them did." Abigail said.

"Hopefully Tessa's okay…" David thought.

"T-Tes-" Cassie said before her mouth was covered by David's hand. David glared at her in a not-right-now manner.

"Either way, its late, and we should be getting to bed." Abigail said, looking at Kelly.

"Yeah, I guess that you're right." David said. "Let's blow this popsicle stand."


	5. Chapter 5

Kelly woke up at 5 AM, and could not get back to sleep. She sat up on the couch and walked a few laps around the living room. "Well, at least I wasn't too too injured. The suit helped protect me, to an extent. Thank gosh it wasn't damaged. But my Inky Rider was ruined by the beast!"

David came into the room.

"David!" Kelly happily said. David tried to reply, but Kelly didn't understand him. David then gave up and pointed to the UTN. "Oh, right. Might as well put this on." So, Kelly did.

"Why are you Xp so early?" David asked.

"Couldn't sleep. Why are you up? Also, your tentacles. They're not tied up" Kelly replied.

"Oh. ForgoXX. Well, in tXX mornXnXs, I like to wXlk to Inkopolis SXXarX. Want to coXe?" David asked.

"Sure!" Kelly said. "Should I-"

"I think yXX'll be fine." David said, tying up two of his tentacles.

"Listen, I need to go somewhere far from here. I want to pick up my karaoke machine. I have one, but it's where I was a human popsicle for 12,000 years. Also, it's a long walk. Can we bike? It'll take a shorter amount of time. Probably 6 or 7 hours each way."

David shrugged. "I'm up to thXX! Follow me."

Kelly played with her hair for a second. It was smooth and a pretty blond, but she always had to wear her disguise. At least she could have it unveiled. "Wait. Need to change my clothes. Would Abigail mind if I borrowed one of her shirts?"

"Maybe." He was writing something on a yellow sticky note.

Kelly snuck into Abigail's room and grabbed a T-Shirt that was a white version of David's, and proceeded to change. When she came out, she was ready to go.

"Let's go!" She happily said.

\-------------------------------------

"Me and Kelly will be out all day, so go shopping or something. Also, Kelly needs a replacement shirt. If you can afford it, another White Inky Rider would be appreciated."

Abigail face palmed. "Idiot. Now I have to take a break from agent duties because Cassie will drag me along and won't take no for an answer!"

She pulled out her Squid phone and texted Micaela. "Hey, I can't do my job today. Friend issues." It was the truth, but not the whole thing, so at least Micaela had something to tell Marie on why Abigail wasn't there.

Cassie walked in, saw the sticky note, and read it. "Squeeee! I haven't gone shopping in ages!" She looked at Abigail, and then Nick as he came in to the living room. "You guys are coming too, wether you like it or not."

Nick rolled his eyes and Abigail groaned. They would rather do something else, but when Cassie wanted to do something, refusing would equal her throwing a fit.

"We should get Kelly new clothes! And a new weapon!" Abigail said, trying to sound excited. "Weren't they ruined yesterday?"

"Yeah." Nick said, a slightly annoyed tone in his voice.

"Let's go already!" Cassie said.

So, the trio left their apartment (the three were roommates, alongside David and Kelly.)

When they reached the Galleria, a familiar pice of music played throughout the area.

"Fresh! Off The Hook! You think that they'll announce the return of or a new weapon?" Abigail asked.

"You all know what time it is?"

"It's Off The Hook, coming to you LIVE from Inkopolis Square!"

"Well, there we go!" Nick said.

The broadcast ended a few minutes later, with no news on new weapons. "Oh carp…" Abigail said. "I hate going shopping for weapons, new or otherwise. Sheldon goes on and on and on and-"

"So? Kelly could use a new weapon, and some new gear to go with it!" Cassie happily said.

"Well, let's split up, if Abigail refuses to go weapon shopping. I'll go pick up a weapon for Kelly, and if I find one that I think she'll use, I'll text you so you can center your gear choices around what I buy. Okay?" Nick said.

"Sure!" Cassie happily said.

Abigail just shrugged.

\-------------------------------------

Kelly and David had been biking for about 4 hours now, and they were taking their second break.

"Hey David, I'm not sure if this will offend you, but I have something to ask you." Kelly said.

"Ask away." David said.

"How did you suppress your natural instincts? You know, like the urge to hunt and kill. Cause at the end of the day, you Inklings are technically extremely civilized animals." Kelly asked.

"It evXXved when us sqXidX evoXXed. We lost XhXm ovXr time." David said.

"Okay. Not as long I expected, but an answer is an answer." Kelly said. "Ready to hit the road?"

"Sure! LXt me pack uX firXt." David said.

But before he could, Kelly came up to him and kissed him on the cheek.

"I like you David. I like you a lot." Kelly said. "Now let's go!"

\-------------------------------------

Tessa smiled. She was off duty today! Which meant that she could do target practice! She went down to Harry's weapon room to grab a few targets made to simulate Inklings and put them at the end of the hall. She then went to the other end of the hall, picked up her 4K Scope, and got ready to fire. She closed one eye, looked through the scope to pick out her target, and shot. The target fell down in one hit.

"Yes!" Tessa said, pumping her fist.

Then she heard footsteps behind her. Tessa turned around to see who was approaching her. She got her 4K ready, and…

"Oh. Uh… Callie! Hi!" Tessa said when she saw who had stopped by. "Actually, can I call you Cals? It kinda suits you well."

"Okay." Callie shrugged.

Tessa put her 4K Scope down. "Look. Harry may seem like a nice guy, but trust me, he's not. He constantly calls his squadron slackers and doesn't pay attention to what he does wrong. Just because he's an Octoling doesn't mean that he's a Mr. Nice Guy."

"Mr. what now?"

"Oh. I learned the term from a friend of mine. She's extremely fascinated by what came before our civilization and has figured out a few things that they used to say." Tessa knew that she was partially lying about Kelly, but it was for her own protection. She didn't want her to be hunted down. "Say, Cals, want to see my E-Liter skills?"

"Sure. I'd presume you're good with it?"

"Yeah. I've been using my 4K Scope since it went into production 6 months ago. I killed an Inkling who had just bought one, so I claimed it for myself." Tessa grinned. She then proceeded to shoot at a target, which fell down in one fully charged hit. "Bam. That would've done 180 damage to an actual Inkling." She snapped her fingers.

Callie nodded in approval. "Well, I have to go now. Bye!" She turned and left.

"Callie's a pretty nice squid, except when Harry's around." Tessa thought.

"Let's just hope she learns the truth." Tessa told herself.

\-------------------------------------

Nick came out of Ammo Knights with an N-Zap '85, a grin on his face. "With this," he said, "all we'll need to do is replace Kelly's White Inky Rider, because her Punk Whites have Special Charge Up, so it'll be easier to charge Ink Armor." He than lowered his voice. "Mainly because of its obnoxious charge rate. 190 points, I tell you! 190 obnoxious special points! The White Inky Rider has Special Power Up, so Ink Armor will be stronger as well."

"I'm not sure what all that means, even tough you tried to explain it, but that sounds good!" Cassie said.

"So I'd presume that we will be visiting Ye Olde Cloth Shoppe next?" Abigail asked.

"Yep!" Cassie replied. "Let's go!"

The trio headed into the store, seeing if what they were looking for was in stock. A bell ring, signaling their arrival.

"What are thy looking for?" Jelfonzo, the shops owner said as Cassie, Nick, and Abigail walked in. Abigail ran to the nearest clothing rack to start looking for her bounty.

"White Inky Rider. You have any in st-" Cassie asked.

"Found it!" Abigail said, holding a White Inky Rider up by the hanger.

"I'd presume thy would buy thy robe?"

"Yep!" Abigail said, putting 12,800 G on the counter. "Thanks!" She yelled as she ran off, followed by Nick and Cassie.

\-------------------------------------

"We'Xe finallX hXrX!" Kelly happily said. She then opened up a hatch, leading down to some sort of underground bunker.

"Are you SURE that this is safe?" David asked.

"ThXre'X no watXX, so I think XXX'll … fine!" Kelly said. She then climbed down a ladder into the cave.

David followed her nervously, wondering if he would meet his end. But again, he thought that the Beast would kill him, so going down a hole felt significantly safer then say, encountering a robot that could kill you.

The bunker was full of items and supplies, but also very spacious.

"You like it?" Kelly asked.

"Yeah." David picked up a CD, with some sort of text on it that he couldn't read. "What's this?" He asked.

Kelly took the CD from him and put it into some sort of machine. Music than began to play, but David couldn't understand the words. Kelly then held David's hands and the pair began to dance.

"Did you liXe …?" Kelly asked.

"Yeah." David replied.

"You know, tXXre … another sXbXect around here…" Kelly said. "Maybe we shXXld … him."

Kelly grabbed a karaoke machine. "David, you cXn bring the …" she gestured to a microphone, which David folded up and grabbed. He than saw Kelly climb out, and he followed her.

The two then biked to where there was another hatch. The two climbed into it to find…

"He's dead…" Kelly said. "But at least it's not Luca…"

"How? How could this happen!?" David began freaking out.

Kelly sighed. "I presume XXat you have nXvXr seen a dead … befXe?" She asked.

"No." David replied. "Can we go? Now?"

"Sure."

Then, the pair left and started to head home.

\-------------------------------------

When David and Kelly came home, it was starting to get dark out. The two headed up to the apartment, and when they arrived…

"Kelly! This … foX you!" Cassie happily said, handing Kelly a wrapped up package. Kelly, curious to see what was inside, sat down on the couch and tore the package open.

"Oh!?" Kelly said as she saw the contents of the package. "A replacement for my Inky Rider and…" she picked up the N-Zap 85' that Nick had bought for her. "What's this?"

"NothinX mucX. … a new weXpXX." Nick told her. "The N-Zap 85'."

"Thanks guys!" Kelly happily said. "Also, sometimes I feel like living with you guys is like living in a video game."

"Well Kelly, … is all real." David said.

"Well, let's have some dinner and then call it a night." Kelly said.

\-------------------------------------

For dinner, there was fish, ramen, and some rice for Kelly. During the meal, the five roommates talked and had some fun.

But eventually, everyone had to go to bed. Kelly put on some pajamas and lied on the couch, ready to see what tomorrow would bring.

Hopefully, it would bring something good.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, this is where my writing began to get better. So, if you hated chapters 1-5, you might like this more.

"These are for you." Micaela handed Abigail a Hero Charger, Hero Roller, and Hero Slosher. "You weren't here yesterday, so I had to hang on to these."

"Oooh! A Charger!" Abigail placed the other two weapons on the ground and looked over her new Charger. She fired off a few shots.

"We're going to face this area's boss today, as I collected enough Zapfish to open up the Boss Kettle." Micaela explained.

She walked up to it, with Abigail following. "You ready?"

Abigail felt a little nervous, but replied with a confident "Yes".

\-------------------------------------

"So, Kelly, aX … that your fXrXt ranked bXtXXe was a disaster, … this rXXemption." David said.

"Okay!" Kelly said. She was excited to use her N-Zap for the first time.

David, Kelly, Nick, and Cassie stepped into the Lobby, grabbing their weapons from their team locker. The four sat down for a few seconds.

"What mode … wX plXyiXg?" Cassie asked.

"Tower CoXtroX." David replied.

"How does that work?" Kelly asked.

"You get on a XoXer and try tX stay on it." Nick said.

"Let the … bXgin!" The announcer said.

Team High Tide then superjumped to the stage that was to be used for the match, which happened to be Moray Towers.

5… 4… 3… 2… 1… BEGIN!

Kelly followed David and the others, inking a path so the team could easily get from the spawn pad to the tower. She could use Ink Armor when need be, as she had inked enough turf to fulfill the demanding special gage of her new weapon. The four went on top of the tower and prepared to use their weapons, as they were fairly easy targets.

The other team had caught up to them at this point, and were shooting constantly at them. Luckily, their team was sniperless, so they couldn't get picked off one by one by a charger. The four scored splat after splat, until Kelly got hit with a flick from a Flingza Roller, causing enough damage to send her back to spawn. She jumped back to help her team, shooting at any squid who threatened to hurt her teammates.

After 4 minutes of constant fighting for the tower, Team High Tide got to the goal point, securing victory for them.

The four left the Lobby when the match concluded, grabbing a bite to eat. Kelly poked her finger at the hamburger that David had bought for her.

"What's in this? Cows have been extinct for millennia!" Kelly asked.

"Crab. Look, … bXXauXe we look a … like the LoXt SpeXiXs doesn't mean … wX eXX like them." David answered.

"Humans. Not Lost Species." Kelly corrected.

"Look, I don't XXnt to blow XoXr cover." David said.

Kelly rolled her eyes, annoyed. "Fine…"

When the group finished, they headed back to do some Turf Wars, but when they were about to enter the Lobby, Off The Hook began broadcasting.

"A new Splatfest will be happening in a week's time!" Pearl happily told the viewers.

"And the theme is…" Marina followed

"Please dXnX suck, … dXXt suck" David said under his breath.

"Sun vs Moon!" The two said in unison.

The four didn't stick around to hear the rest. So, the group went to the Lobby and prepared to Turf.

"You worship a FAX MACHINE!?" Kelly started laughing.

David rolled his eyes. "Oh Kelly…"

\-------------------------------------

"Okay. I want you to use these Rollers so I can gather data on them." Sheldon spoke through Abigail and Micaela's headsets.

The two then approached a Zapfish that was in the middle of the area that they were in, which was surrounded by enemy ink.

But then, a tentacle grabbed the Zapfish! The owner of the tentacle then emerged from the ink.

The owner looked like a deformed cross between a regular Octarian and an Octoling, and resembled some sort of samurai. It held a Roller in its hands, and when it noticed Abigail and Micaela, it was not happy.

"What should we do?" Micaela asked.

"Just treat it like an extra-strong Octoling and try to hit it!" Abigail said. "You can flick your roller!" She then proceeded to do so, dealing some damage to the Octo Samurai.

But then its eyes started to glow slightly, and it swung its Roller in a circle, missing Abigail and Micaela by only a few inches.

"Girls, be careful if you see its eyes glow again. By the looks of it, that means that it will attack you!" Marie said through the pair's headsets.

Abigail began to flick her Roller over and over, until it was down. She and Micaela then super jumped back to spawn.

"So, are we done?" Micaela asked.

Then it respawned.

"Oh carp…" Abigail said.

"Agents 4, 5, be careful. It's probably stronger now, like with most Octo Bosses."

"Roger Marie." Abigail said, walking up to the jump pad, while Micaela followed.

The two stood back to back, ready to flick their Rollers when needed.

But then, the Octo Samurai raced towards them, riding its Roller like some sort of bike.

"Inkcoming!" Abigail yelled, separating from her friend to flick her Roller at it. But after the two got a few flicks in, it attacked them again, and even splatted Abigail! But the pair gave it their all, and beat the Octo Boss a second time around.

The two were about to high-five, but then it came back! Abigail and Micaela pivoted towards their foe, ready to strike, and strike they did.

Ink flew through the air, belonging to both friend and foe. But after 15 minutes of battling, the victor was chosen.

Abigail and Micaela hugged in victory. "We beat it!" Abigail happily said.

"You two are making great progress! I'm sure that you two will reach Callie in no time." Marie said over the two agents' headsets.

Micaela grabbed the Zapfish and the two headed back to base, one step closer to reaching their final destination.

\-------------------------------------

Meanwhile…

Tessa sat at the side of the Moonpool. "Am I good or evil? It's supposed to be a quick, unimportant, question, but I don't know the answer! But am I already good? Or evil?

I'm good on the standpoint of the Octarians, but evil according to Inklings! Why can't I choose who to be loyal to!"

She took a breath. "I need to snap out of this. Choose a side. But I can't."

Tessa stood up. "I should go now, I guess."

She picked up her E4 Scope, and left to find somebody who wasn't that happy.

"You four are expected to be on duty tomorrow, but separately. I'm working too… but alone. Plus! I have learned a tactic where one waits at where the Inklings respawn when they are splatted, and splat them when they try to respawn. It's ingenious!" Harry said.  
"Now go rest up. You have lots of work to do tomorrow."

"But it's-" Tessa said

"NO BUTS!" Harry yelled. "GO!"

Tessa took that as a "go away", and go away she did, back to the Moonpool.

"Why does Harry have to be like that? Always prioritizing military work and Callie above his squadronmates! But even then, I'm basically a rouge now. The consequences are inevitable!" Tessa sighed. She'd put this battle off for tomorrow.

\-------------------------------------

Later…

"David?" Kelly said.

"Yeah?" David turned around.

"Can I teXch you something?"

David walked up to Kelly. "Let's sit down." He said.

Kelly pulled out a sheet of paper with weird writing on it that David couldn't read. "I might aX well teach … how to rXaX this. It's iX Human." She sat down on the couch, and David sat down next to her.

She then read the first line on the paper. "This says, 'I'm gonna mXXe you bXnX and brXaX'. They're … lXrXcs."

David repeated it.

"Good. Let's cXXtinXe."

The two went through the song, line by line, until David could read the whole thing.

"Good job!" Kelly said. "NoX, we can sXnX it!"

Kelly grabbed the karaoke machine and turned it on, picking what David presumed was the song. The two then began singing.

Cassie and Nick noticed right away, and came to listen.

"But sweeter!" The two finished the song as soon as Abigail had came in.

"Fish Taco Tuesday, right?" Abigail asked.

"Fish is in the freezer, taco shells in the pantry, and the rest is in the fridge." David said.

\-------------------------------------

Dinner was enjoyable. The food was good, Abigail was talking about her day, and the rest were voting on a Splatfest side.

"Why are we voting on a Splatfest side?" Kelly asked.

"It was a yeXr and X half XXo. July 14,016, Xo bX exact. TXe final Splatfest was being held in Inkopolis PlXXa, Callie … Marie. TXX whole teXm split … due to our prefXXeXcXs, and then Marie ended up wXnnXXg. David … salty about it for months afXXr. Some-" Abigail said.

"I have ears!" David yelled from across the table.

Abigail rolled her eyes. "See what I meXn?"

\-------------------------------------

A Splatfest side was chosen (Team Sun) and dinner ended. So, the five prepared to go to bed.

With one week to go until the Splatfest, anything could happen!


	7. Chapter 7

  
"What's that?" Kelly asked.

"Squidbeatz 2. You can play it if you want." David replied.

Kelly, David, Nick, and Cassie went up to the arcade machine for the game. Abigail was out doing Agent work and Tessa was on duty, leaving the four of them to Turf and do stuff on their own.

Kelly stepped up to the machine. "Looks simXle enoXXh. I was always gXod at DDR."

"I don't think that you know any of the songs on this, so I'll pick one out for you, if that's okay." David said.

"Sure!" Kelly shrugged.

David messed around with the song selections. He turned to Kelly. "Oh! You'll like this one. This song's called Calamari Inkcantation. It's by the Squid Sisters."

"Okay." Kelly replied. She was pretty cool with any song. She stepped onto the machine, pressed the start button, and began dancing.

As she played, Kelly sang along to the song, raising her arms in time with the music. This caught the attention of a few Inklings in the Square, who came to watch. By the time the song was over, Kelly was sweating, and a reasonably large crowd had gathered to watch her.

"You're good!"

"That's a great singing voice you have there!"

"Just as good as the Squid Sisters, or Off The Hook!"

Kelly smiled. She never expected to get the attention of this many squids!

"Thank you!" Kelly said.

David walked up to the machine, starting up another song which Kelly sang along to and played, this being Bomb Rush Blush.

'This was the song Callie was singing during our concert sneak-in!'   
Kelly thought.

For the next hour, she sang and danced to a variety of songs, from the Squid Sisters to the Bottom Feeders. With every song she sang, she got lots of applause and compliments, making her extremely confident.

"Thank *pant* you so *pant* much!" She said to the crowd.

"Wanna turf?" David asked.

"Yeah!" Kelly said.

The four then walked over to the Lobby as Kelly's "fans" dispersed.

"Well, that was something." Kelly said.

"Yeah." Cassie said.

"Let's get gXiXg!" David said.

\-------------------------------------

"I really don't get why Nick uses a Heavy Splatling. The mobility is horrible!" Abigail complained. "But again, he has had two years of experience, so I can't get too mad at him."

Abigail and Micaela were on another mission, and weren't exactly having an easy time. Neither had handled a Splatling, and the class was considered to be one the hardest to get used to.

The two agents progressed in their mission, but got splatted many times. But then, their worst fear came true when an Octoling sprung out of an ink puddle!

'E-Liter, 4K model, scoped… I've fought her before…'  
Abigail thought as she attacked and splatted her opponent.

Abigail and Micaela than proceeded to continue on their mission.

When the pair returned with a Zapfish, they presented the fact that an Octoling had ambushed them.

"I see…" Marie said. "My advice is to stay on your guard and prepare for the unexpected."

The two girls nodded.

"One more mission 'till we call it a day?" Abigail said.

"Okay." Micaela replied.

\-------------------------------------

"Again? These Agent 4 and 5 squids aren't messing around!" Tessa said to herself. She was on a break, and with Harry out on some Elite duties, she was free from his harsh "leadership" style.

She was in the Vault, messing around with the karaoke machine, when Callie entered.

"Is Harry here?" She asked.

"No. Elite duties. He's going to be out for a good while." Tessa answered. "Say, do you want to use the song machine? I'll record you so Harry can hear." Of course, the Harry fact was a complete lie. She'd rather get fired then advocate a romantic relationship between Callie and Harry.

Callie nodded. Thus, Tessa flicked on a song, and Callie started singing. Even if she was here unwillingly, she was still a good singer.

"Hey, Cals, I have something for you to read through, so you know the truth about Harry." Tessa said. She handed Callie a journal. "It's Harry's."

Tessa knew about Harry having a journal for quite some time, but a few days ago she had found it.

Now the truth could finally be revealed.

\-------------------------------------

"Carp. Octolings. Again." Abigail complained.

"Hey, it could be worse." Micaela said.

"Okay girls, you probably know the drill. Get 8 Mini Zapfish and take out Octolings if need be. Good luck!"

The pair approached the fist Mini Zapfish with caution, just in case of an ambush. However, they were able to get it without too much trouble.

But when the duo reached the second Mini Zapfish, an Elite Octoling ambushed them from behind, splatting both of them. But when they respawned, another Elite was waiting for them.

"Game over ladies." He said, aiming a Classic Squiffer at them.

He pulled the trigger, and the world faded to black.

\-------------------------------------

"Man, that wXs a gXoX game!" Kelly happily exclaimed.

"Yeah!" David replied. He pulled four food tickets out of a pocket in his shorts. "My treat."

"Where aXX we going?" Kelly asked.

"The Crust Bucket. You'll like it, presuming that you enjoy eating seafood, which I presume that you do." Nick said.

The team walked up to the food truck, where Crusty Sean was waiting. David put the four food tickets on the counter. "4 Crusty Seanwhiches please."

"Sure thing kid!" Crusty Sean then went into the back of the truck and got David's order. "Enjoy!"

Team High Tide sat down at a table and dug in.

"This is gXeat!" Kelly said.

"Glad you like it." David replied.

\-------------------------------------

"You know, I think that I should tell you guys my background. I feel like it might explain things a little better." Kelly said.

She took a breath.

"I grew up in a family of five. Mom, dad, older brother, younger sister, me. I grew up normally, as you do." She quickly paused.

Kelly then continued. "At age 10, I started getting into karaoke, and that's why I'm a pretty good singer. But when the sea levels started rising due to global warming, I started to freak out. After a few months, I was accepted into a thing called Project Return, which was a plan to bring back humanity in case of extinction.

So, I was cryogenically frozen for 12,000 years, and when I woke up, I ran into you guys. That's not everything that happened in my past, but there's only so much time." Kelly finished.

"Say, whXt was yXuX brXXhXr's name?" David asked.

"Luca. You remind me of him." Kelly answered.

"It's starXXnX to get … out, so sXaXl we gX home?" Nick asked.

"I guess." David replied.

So the group headed back to their apartment.

\-------------------------------------

Meanwhile…

Micaela was freaking out. "I'm so sorry! An Octoling was spawn camping us and…"

"It's okay girl. Let's just try again!" Abigail replied.

So the two returned, prepared for almost anything. They ran if need be and swam if there was ink around, and picked off Octolings one by one, mainly to Abigail's Charger skills.

But then, they ran into the Octoling that had spawn camped them. "So we meet-" He was distracted and didn't see Abigail's Hero Charger shot before it was too late.

"So, we've gotten rid of the Octolings in the area. Ready to collect Mini Zapfish?" Micaela asked.

"Sure!" Abigail said.

The duo grabbed all 8 Mini Zapfish, but before they headed back to base, Abigail heard music.

"Bombs are rushing, faces are blushing…"

'C-C-Callie. No…' Abigail thought to herself.

But Micaela was waiting, so she returned back to base, pondering over the music that she heard and what had happened to Callie.

It couldn't be good.

\-------------------------------------

"So, what's for dinner?" Kelly asked.

"Fish. An aXXortXeXt of … species." Cassie answered.

"Great!" Abigail said. She had just arrived from agent work.

Dinner was served, and after, Kelly decided to preform a few songs from her karaoke machine. When she was done, everyone complimented her on her singing voice.

But soon, it was time for bed, and Kelly went to sleep on the couch, excited for the next day.

\-------------------------------------

That night…

Two Octolings, both male, and both in humanoid form stood in a dark room.

"She says that she's been having strange dreams. Or relapses, technically. They're usually of an Inkling asking her to sing."

"I see. The tech department will start modding the Hypno Shades to prevent these."

"Good."

"You're one of my most trusted Elites. Keep up the good work. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."


	8. Chapter 8

"Guess what! Guess what!"

Tessa met Kelly, David, and Nick in the middle of Inkopolis Square.

"I'm off duty for 2 days!" Tessa happily said. "I can turf with you guys!"

"That's nice to hear!" David said.

"Yeah!" Kelly added.

"So, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Tessa said impatiently.

The four headed to the Lobby, fully geared up. Soon, they were beginning a Turf War on Blackbelly Skatepark, with the ink colors being purple and light green. Team High Tide got the assignment of light green, while another team, Team Sparklestrike, was assigned purple.

"BEGIN!"

Nick flanked left, Kelly flanked right, and David and Tessa ran straight down to the middle of the stage where a tower was located. If Tessa could get up there, then she'd have a perfect sniping spot!

The Inkling and Octoling made it to the middle of the stage, where the other team was waiting for them!

"What do we do!?" Tessa asked nervously.

David jumped up in the air. "David used Splashdown!" He then landed on the ground, sending green ink everywhere and taking out the entire team!

David smiled. "It's super effective." He and Tessa then went on top of the tower, ready to fight.

Kelly then superjumped to them. "I finXlly figXrXX out how to uXX the map."

David smiled. "Great!"

Nick then arrived and checked the map. The team gathered around, figuring out what their course of action would be. David traced the paths of the other team with his finger.

"Go. Turf as much as possible." He said.

The four separated, and did what David had ordered.

Their efforts payed off, as the final score was 57.9% to 43.1% in the favor of Team High Tide.

"Fresh! A win!" Nick said.

"Victory is oXrX!" Kelly happily exclaimed.

"Wanna turf some more?" Tessa asked.

"Sure!"

\-------------------------------------

"Three Zapfish left!" Micaela happily said.

"Well, let's go!" Abigail said.

The two switched forms, and headed to their next mission.

The weapon that they were given was the Hero Shot, and the two saw some sort of new thing. Abigail pointed to it. "What's that?" She asked.

"Those are called bounce pads. When you walk on them, you'll bounce a little bit, but if you put a little extra force in there, then you can get some serious air!" Marie said.

The two went on the bounce pads, and just as Marie had said, they started bouncing. "Octotroopers at 5 o' clock!" Abigail yelled.

"Where?" Micaela asked.

"There!" Abigail pointed at a group of Octotroopers, which had just noticed them. The two agents stood back to back and took out the whole lot of them, then continued on their mission.

The two then ran into a moving wall on a bunch of bounce pads. An Octotrooper was also there, and started shooting at them.

"Agents 4, 5 be careful. These moving walls can send you bouncing to your demise!" Marie warned.

"Roger." Abigail said.

The two agents continued through the area, splatting anything that dared to walk into their path.

When they reached the Zapfish, Abigail grabbed it, and the two returned back to base. Abigail and Micaela high fived each other.

"Let's go! We're so close!" Micaela said.

"Yeah!" Abigail said.

\-------------------------------------

Later…

Abigail was home just in time for dinner, which was going to be crab burgers.

"You can make crab burgers?" Kelly asked.

David put the finished burgers on plates. "Yeah. Did Xou humaX coXX?"

"Yeah, but crab was usually prepared by professionals."

"Now you knXw." David said.

Everyone sat at the kitchen counter for dinner, where David could have an easier time handing out plates. He handed out prepared plates, and everyone ate.

"This is great!" Kelly said. She was surprised at the quality of David's cooking.

"Thanks!" David said.

The five roommates ate and talked about whatever was on their minds, and Abigail gave a report about her Zapfish collecting (She was going to face the Octo Boss of the third area). Then, dinner ended.

Kelly was putting her plate in the dishwasher when Nick said.

"Off the HooX is better!"

"Oh carp, nXt again!" Abigail said.

So, the Great Band Debate began. The five argued about who was better, Squid Sisters or Off The Hook. But at the end, Kelly had to settle the debate. She took a breath.

"In all honesty, I like the Squid Sisters more." Kelly said.

"What!?"

"Come on!"

"Fresh!"

After, everyone went to their rooms to prepare for the next day and get some rest. Just like every day, it was going to be full of fun!

\-------------------------------------

Meanwhile…

Tessa had followed Harry again, as he was going off to some sort of 'meeting' she pressed her back up against a wall and began to listen.

"Those agents took out our second Octo boss. Those two squids don't know the definition of quit. So, we have prepared a new boss for them. Hopefully they… enjoy it.

Also! We have fully analyzed the DNA from the ink on the Beast. It comes from four individuals, but only one truly matters. Three of the individuals are Inklings, but the other, fourth, one is special. She's a member of the Lost Species!"

'No! Kelly!' Tessa thought to herself. 'But wait… that means that the other three are Cassie, Nick, and David!'

"So, I plan to send some of my strongest Elites to find and kidnap this Lost Species so we can find out more about the species. Meeting-"

Tessa ran. She had to warn Kelly! She didn't want her friend to be hurt!

But that could wait for tomorrow. All that mattered was not getting caught.

She didn't. Tessa sighed in relief. The next day was her day to warn Kelly.


	9. Chapter 9

Kelly was 15, her brother, Luca, was 25, and her sister, Leah, was 10.

It was dinner, and Luca was talking about what was going on in the lab that he had got a job at a few months ago. The job itself was in California, so Luca rarely visited. However, he had gotten a week to visit his family.

"I might as well tell you guys what else I've been working on with the lab."

Kelly put her head down in the table in boredom while Leah listened excitedly.

"Remember what I said about sea levels rising and how, if not prevented, the Earth might flood?"

"Yeah…" Kelly said, slightly annoyed. Her brother always talked about the rising sea levels and all his dumb jibber-jabber on cephalopods and whatever the heck he was studying with his team at the moment.

"Well, we're working on cryogenic technology, so a few humans can survive the flood. I get a reserved spot for anyone in my family, and so, I have chosen someone." He looked at Kelly. "You, Kelly."

Kelly looked at him. "Really? Why me?"

Her brother nodded. "I have my ways." Leah rolled her eyes and groaned.

Later on, when dinner was over, Luca walked up to Kelly. "This is a great opportunity Kels. You're my little sis! So, what do you think?"

Kelly looked at him.

"Kelly? Kelly! Kelly? Wake up!" Then, he smacked her across the face.

But she didn't wake up on the couch.

Instead she woke up in a dark room. All she could see was blackness.

"Kelly Connell." A voice said. Kelly flinched.

The owner of the voice walked up to her, with the beast that attacked her next to him. It was an Octoling, holding not one of the weapons that Inklings used, but a real gun. "I know your little secret, girl."

"DON'T SHOOT ME!" Kelly yelled.

"Why would I?" The Octoling taunted. "You're the perfect specimen. I'm sure that Octavio would love you. A new subject… and a Lost Species too!"

"IF YOU THINK THAT YOU ARE GOING TO GET AWAY WITH FORCING ME TO WEAR THOSE MIND-CONTROLLING SUNGLASSES, THEN YOU ARE INSANE!" Kelly yelled. She turned to run, but was chained down.

"Don't disrespect the shades girl." He said, pulling out a pair of Hypnoshades out of almost nowhere. "I always have a backup."

He ran up to Kelly and pushed them onto her face.

"NO!" Kelly yelled.

\-------------------------------------

"You're up!" David said as Kelly's eyes fluttered open. "You were screaming in your sleep about some sort of mind control. But you're okay now…"

"That'X good tX hear." Kelly said. "What are we XoinX today?" She asked.

"Splat Zones. Mainly because Tessa is joining us." David said.

The four biked to Inkopolis Square, ready to start a new day of turfing. Cassie was going to play solo for the day, so she ran into the Lobby while the others waited for Tessa.

After a few minutes, David saw Tessa come out of a grate and ran up to them. Some squids looked at her curiously, as Tessa was an Octoling, but they just assumed that she wouldn't hurt them and was nice enough. "So *pant* what are we *pant* doing today?" She asked.

"Splat Zones. Those Ink Mines on your E-Liter will come in handy." David said.

"Splat ZonXs?" Kelly asked.

"The goal is really simple. Have as much ink in a certain area of the map for as long as possible." Nick replied.

"Well, it's a little more complicated then that, but that is the base idea." David said.

"So what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Tessa impatiently said.

\-------------------------------------

"You ready?" Abigail asked.

Micaela nodded.

The two switched forms and headed down the grate, wondering what they would face for their third Octo Boss.

The two agents came out of the other side of the transport kettle. "I need some more data on the Hero Dualies, so you're going to be using them for this fight." Sheldon explained through Abigail and Micaela's headsets as the two obtained the weapon.

After, they superjumped to the arena, where the boss was waiting for them.

The boss itself was just a huge cube. Nothing much. But when it turned around to face them, it had a face!

"The last time I checked, cubes didn't have faces…" Micaela said.

"The Octostomp? But how? Agent 3 defeated it two years ago!" Marie said, which echoed through Abigail and Micaela's headsets.

"Defeated or not, we still have to-"

Then, it jumped towards Abigail and Micaela, and if the two hadn't dodge rolled out of the way in time, the two agents would have been toast!

"-beat it again." Abigail said.

Micaela shot at its side while it was still on the ground, and smiled when she saw that her ink would stick to the Octostomp's side. "Shoot its side while it's down!"

But then, the Octostomp stood back up and jumped at Abigail, missing by a fraction of an inch. "Now!" She yelled.

Abigail started inking the Octostomp, and eventually got on top of it. After a few shots, she had taken out the tentacle!

But the battle wasn't over yet, as suddenly, a coat covered the sides of it!

"Well, looks like we aren't going to be inking anything in the near future…" Micaela said.

"Look! There's a buckle holding the coat in place! If we hit it enough times, it might come off!" Abigail said.

The two superjumped back into the arena to continue their fight.

Both squids worked on shooting the buckle, and dodged out of the way when the Octostomp tried to crush them. Eventually, they were able to get it off.

"Yoo hoo! Octostomp!" Abigail stood right in front of the boss, which jumped up and tried to splat her! When it was in the air, Abigail ran out of the way.

While it was down, Micaela inked the sides of the Octostomp, and took out the tentacle. The two then prepared for the next stage of the battle.

The Octostomp then put the coat back on, but now, the coat had two faces attached to it!

"You might have to dodge by moving backwards." Marie said over the pair's headsets.

"Let's finish this!" Micaela said.

The two then proceed to give it their all, and after some fighting, took out the Octostomp! Abigail grabbed the Zapfish, and the two agents returned to base.

"Ready to go to the next area?" Abigail asked.

"Sure!" Micaela said.

\-------------------------------------

"5… 4…3… 2… 1… BEGIN!"

Team High Tide was playing on Arowanna Mall for Splat Zones, which meant that the zone was in the middle of the map. The four members of the team headed to the zone, and were the first to get there. The four started inking the area immediately, as that was the goal.

"Tessa, put an Ink Mine anywhere in the zone! Before they…" David said.

The other team came up to the zone and started inking it.

"Get here. Let's go!" David said.

Tessa put down an Ink Mine and started to charge up her E-Liter. When she did, she was able to splat an Inkling that was about to hit her! Then an Inkling strapped on the mine, marking her position for the whole team. Kelly then took the squid out with a few shots from her N-Zap.

The team then got control of the zone, and Team High Tide's counter started counting down. But 10 seconds later, the other team claimed the zone! Team High Tide then began to fight back and gain control.

This went back and forth for 5 minutes, but at the end, Team High Tide won!

"That was fXn!" Kelly said as the group left the Lobby.

"Yeah, I know!" David said. He smiled happily, showing off his fangs.

"Well, let's take a short break." Tessa said.

Kelly shrugged. "Sure!" She said.

\-------------------------------------

"So, as you may know, I'm Agent 2 of the Squidbeak Splatoon." Marie said.

"Yeah." Abigail said.

"My cousin, Callie is Agent 1, and she went missing after the Zapfish was stolen. I'm pretty sure that these events are connected. So if Callie's under Octarian control, then you two will have to save her too."

"What about Agent 3?" Micaela asked.

"Agent 3 is out doing some research with my grandfather, Cap'n Cuttlefish. She's not going to be back anytime soon, so if you want to meet Agent 3, you'll have to wait. She's a very nice squid, so you two will probably like her."

"Okay." Abigail said.

"Go! Run and don't look back! They'll get you too! Go…" a new voice said.

"Who are you?" Marie asked.

The voice didn't respond.

"Hello! Hello?"

"Well, looks like we have something new to investigate." Micaela said.

"Yeah!" Abigail said.

"Well, you two are pretty enthusiastic, so I think that you'll be able to rescue whoever was talking over the radio and the Great Zapfish!"

"Let's do this!" Abigail and Micaela said in unison.

\-------------------------------------

Later…

"Another great day!" Kelly said.

"I know!" Nick said. "AlXo, its nXce to sXe the DisguXse Suit worXing."

"So, what's today's dinner?" Kelly asked.

"Clams anX friXs FridXy." David said, putting clams and fries on plates. After, he handed them out to everyone. Kelly poked at the clams with her finger. "How can you squids eat this?" She said.

"It's whXt our ancesXeXtors ate, and hey, it's preXXy good!" Cassie said.

Kelly nervously picked up one of the clams, took the meat out of the shell, and took a bite. It tasted better then she thought it would. After, she ate some of the fries, which were much better.

During the meal, Abigail gave the group a Zapfish report, Cassie talked about her solo experiences, and everyone else talked about the events of the day.

But soon, dinner ended, at the five roommates had a bit of free time.

"Hey David?" Kelly asked.

"What?" He replied.

"Do you want to dance? I can teach you how to." She said.

"Okay."

Kelly then took her phone and turned on a recording. "Just follow my lead."

Then, the two began to dance. Kelly was much better than her partner, but David wasn't as bad as he had thought. He had gone to a few school dances, but he just hung out.

After a minute or so, Abigail, Nick, and Cassie came in to watch, and when the song was over, the three squids commented on the good job that they did.

"Thanks!" Kelly said, blushing a little.

But it was getting late, so everyone called it a night. Kelly put on some pajamas, then fell asleep, hoping for sweet enough dreams.

\-------------------------------------

Meanwhile…

"You four weaklings will get the 'honorable' position of fighting off Agents 4 and 5. Meanwhile, I have something that is important Elite business. NOW GET TO BED AND BE UP EARLY!" Harry said.

But Tessa didn't get to bed. Instead, she decided to see what this "special business" was. He had left his journal lying around, so she opened it and read it.

3/30/14018

The results of the DNA samples from the Beast came back today. Three of them are Inklings, and are of little to no concern, as their DNA shows that they are not Agents 4 or 5. However, one of the samples was slightly similar to that of Agent 4's. A relative, maybe?

But the most important sample came from the Beast's jaws. It belongs to a member of the Lost Species! Now, alongside a few other Elites, I plan to catch her. Preferably alive.

Tessa heard footsteps coming down the hall, so she bolted to her room and pretended to be asleep. But her head was full of thoughts. What would happen to Kelly if she was captured? What would they do to David, Nick, and Cassie?

Was this even a good idea?

Tessa sighed. Everything could wait for tomorrow, when there was a new day and new opportunities.

Then she could find some answers.


	10. Chapter 10

"Ready to go fight some Octolings?" Abigail asked.

Micaela smiled. "Yep." She said.

The two then switched forms and headed down the transport kettle.

The agents had gotten somewhat used to the makeshift Turf War stages that the Octarians made from whatever junk was lying around, but the structure was still somewhat off putting.

Micaela and Abigail had gotten used to Octoling missions at this point, and knew the drill. Collect the 8 Mini Zapfish and try not to die. Simple enough.

The pair approached the first Mini Zapfish, but a group of Octolings suddenly appeared!

"You know the drill!" Abigail called out, picking off Octolings with her Hero Charger.

Micaela nodded. She started shooting away with her Hero Shot, taking out the remainder of the Octolings. She burst open the cage that the Mini Zapfish was being held in and grabbed it.

"One down, seven to go!" Abigail said happily.

The two then continued to run around the area, taking out Octolings and retrieving Mini Zapfish, until all 8 were collected.

The two returned back to base, ready to head down a new transport kettle and start a new mission.

Abigail and Micaela then superjumped to a new kettle, ready to begin a new mission.

\-------------------------------------

Meanwhile…

"It sucks that Tessa can't join us today…" Kelly said.

"It's okay." David replied.

"Ready?" Nick asked.

Kelly nodded, and the four headed into the Lobby.

After a bit of waiting, the match began, and it was on…

"Shellendorf Institute…" David said.

"What's sX bad abXXt it?" Kelly asked.

"They have a fossil of a hu-" David started.

"BEGIN!"

\-------------------------------------

Kelly did her usual job of inking around the sides, but a few minutes in…

"AUGH! THEY HAVE A HUMAN FOSSIL!!!!" Kelly said, pointing at the museum's fossilized human skeleton. Needless to say, she alerted everybody around her, including the enemy team!

David, standing on a glass platform, noticed somebody approaching Kelly, who was still shocked at her discovery. He quickly superjumped to her, ready to strike with his Splat Roller.

A female Inkling then ran up to Kelly and David, just to end up being splatted. Kelly smiled. "You're good with that roller." She said.

"Thanks." David said, putting his left arm behind his head and blushing a little bit, his right arm hanging on to his Splat Roller. "Now let's go!" He said.

The team turfed until the final whistle was blown and the final scores were calculated.

After a few tense seconds, the final scores were posted, which ended in victory for Team High Tide, 43.5% to 43.4%.

"You guys are good." Kelly said.

"Thanks!" David said. "We'vX had tXX years oX experXeXce!"

"I can see it!" Kelly said. A light pink blush crossed her face. "Shall we continue?"

"Yeah! Let'X go!" Cassie said.

"Why not?" Nick shrugged.

The four then proceeded to wait for another math, excited to see what would be thrown at them next.

\-------------------------------------

Meanwhile…

Tessa had gotten quite a beating when she had fought Agents 4 and 5, but had recovered over the past hour. Now, she was standing in Harry's back room, surrounded by test tubes and assorted tools.

She took a breath. Was this a good idea? Yes. She had to keep her new friend safe. Tessa grabbed a test tube. She was going to smash it later.

The Octoling then left the room.

\-------------------------------------

"This right here is the Hero Blaster! It may not have the best rate of fire, but its shots go straight through barriers!" Abigail sighed. She always had a distaste for Sheldon's habit of going on and on and on about weapons. But that didn't really matter at the moment. What really mattered was retrieving the area's Zapfish, even if it was with a very unconventional weapon choice.

"Let's go!" Micaela said happily, swimming over to a launchpad.

Abigail then headed over to it, and the two agents began the real part of their mission.

"Octotrooper!" Abigail shouted out, quickly shooting at said octopus.

Micaela flashed her a thumbs-up. "Thanks!" She said.

Abigail and Micaela then came up to a large area with three launchpads and a Shielded Octotrooper.

"You distract the Octotrooper, I'll take it out." Abigail said. Micaela nodded.

"Hey Octotrooper! Come at me!" Micaela waved her hands around.

While the octopus was distracted by Micaela, Abigail shot it in the back. The two agents then regrouped and high-fived.

"Middle?" Micaela asked.

"It just takes some time-" Abigail said, before saying "Yeah, middle." She inked a path to the middle launchpad, and the two superjumped to wherever it lead to.

"Look! Grapples!" Abigail said. She shot at the two in rapid succession, and quickly headed down. Micaela followed suit.

Another launchpad was waiting for them at the bottom of the grapples, so the two superjumped to the next location, just to find even more grapples.

"Dang…" Abigail said.

"C'mon! We need to complete this mission!" Micaela then started shooting away, reaching the bottom in a matter of seconds.

Abigail took a breath and jumped off the platform. She fired like a madsquid at the grapples and eventually made it to the bottom.

The agents then went on another launchpad to find…

"Good woomy, talk about a lot of Octarians…" Abigail said nervously.

There were Octotroopers, both shielded and normal, but also a few Octostamps. The two agents had faced much stronger octopi, but there were so many of them…

"We'll need to attack them one at a time, then retreat after." Micaela said.

"'Kay." Abigail replied.

The two then rushed in, attacking and retreating, until the area was free of octopi. Abigail grabbed the key, which was sitting in front of a launchpad. The two then superjumped away, ready to continue on their mission.

\-------------------------------------

Meanwhile…

"Can I come in?" A voice asked.

"Sure." Tessa said. She had just smashed one of Harry's test tubes and was burying the evidence.

The door opened.

"Cals?" Tessa asked.

Callie walked into the room. "I think that you might be right about Harry…" she said. "When I was getting some lunch, I saw him yelling at a few Octolings to get to work."

"See?" Tessa asked.

"Also, another thing. I've been having strange dreams lately. They're about an Inking telling me to come and sing with her… Harry just brushes these off, saying that they are just a dumb side effect of sleeping without my shades, but I'm not sure that that's the case."

"Well, I'm just an Octoling soldier, so I don't know much about that sort of tech, and even then, I trained as a sniper. Heavy machinery was never really my thing." Tessa replied. "I'll try to do what I can with Harry."

"Thanks. He seems way too off. I'm not sure if it is his Elite duties or something completely different."

"You're welcome."

\-------------------------------------

"So, we need to think up of some sort of plan to save Callie, because I AM NOT letting those slimy Octarians get away with squidnapping and mind-controlling Callie!" David said.

"How do we do tXaX?" Kelly asked.

David pointed at her. "You. Maybe your karaoke skills can get through to her."

"What about us?" Cassie and Nick asked.

"WhXt if we gXt attaXted?" Kelly asked. "You can coXe in XhXn!"

"But if Tessa joins us, then what?" Cassie said.

David held up a Sneaky Beanie. "She can wear this and tuck her tentacles underneath the hat!"

"Good idea!" Kelly said, smiling.

"But first, what is the plan itself!?" Cassie asked.

"Simple! We sneak into one of Callie's concerts and fight our way through!" David exclaimed.

Nick shrugged. "Easier said then done, but I think that it might work…"

"Well, it's getting late, and dinner's almost ready, so let's put this to rest for now…" David said, just as Abigail was opening the door.

"Oh?" She asked.

"Heh heh… nothing to see here sis! Let's have dinner!" David said as he pushed the evidence under the couch.

\-------------------------------------

Dinner was quiet. The only real talking that happened was somebody asking for something. The meal ended, and the five went to bed without any complaint.

Kelly put on her pajamas, then lied down on the couch. Hopefully things would be better then they were tonight.


	11. Chapter 11

  
"Okay. So today's plan is to play some Ranked and grind our Splatfest T-Shirts. Everyone okay with that?" David said.

"Yep!"

"Sure!"

"Great!"

David, Nick, Cassie, and Kelly then went into the Lobby.

"Hey Kelly! These are for you." David held out a pair of Fake Contacts. "These will help you out with charging up Ink Armor."

Kelly nodded and put them on, taking her Squid Clip-ons off. "They're prXtXy…" she said.

"Okay teams! To your spawn pads!"

"Ready?" David said.

Kelly nodded.

The battle was Splat Zones, located in The Reef. For ink, the colors were yellow and light blue. Team High Tide was assigned light blue, with the other team being yellow.

The game went extremely smoothly, ending in a knockout win for Team High Tide.

"Another one?" David asked.

"Yeah!" Kelly replied.

The four then headed into another battle of Splat Zones, but as soon as the game began (It was on Blackbelly Skatepark), an uninvited guest came out of almost nowhere, and he meant business!

"Give me the Lost Species. Now." It was an Octoling!

David held up his Splat Roller, preparing to flick at it. "No! If you think that you can get your grimy tentacles on my Kelly, then you're wrong!"

"Okay then…" he pulled out a gun, but it didn't match up to anything that David had seen. "Ink won't hurt her, but this will! Also, don't think about shooting at me, or she gets it!"

"Well then… eat Heavy Splatling!" Nick screamed, a departure from his normally quiet self. He charged his Heavy Splatling up, and fired. However, the Octoling shot at Kelly, who dived into an ink puddle before the bullet could hit her.

David closed his eyes for a few seconds, before opening them. The Octoling was gone, and all that was left was a puddle of green ink. "Let's go!" He called out.

The foursome then headed to the middle and took the splat zone back before the other team's timer reached 0. The game eventually ran into overtime, but Team High Tide were able to take the lead, ending the game in a victory for them.

\-------------------------------------

"Spinning platforms? Come on!" Abigail yelled. Accompanied by Micaela, she was on a mission.

"I'm getting a little queasy, but we have to keep moving!" Micaela said, before using her Slosher, the weapon that the two agents had to use in this mission, to ink the platform, before swimming up to the top of it onto a (relievingly solid) platform. Abigail followed after.

The two continued on their mission, until they ran into…

"An Octostamp DX? You don't see those everyday…"

"Nice to know Marie!" Abigail said.

"Hey, it kinda looks like the Octostomp!" Micaela said.

The two then headed up (even more) spinning platforms to the new foe.

"You can't damage it, so just ink the side, grab the key, and run for the hills." Marie advised over the two agent's headsets.

"Roger!" Abigail said, before doing just that.

The pair then continued on their mission.

After a while, the two finally found the Zapfish! "Yeah!" Abigail said.

The two then retrieved the Zapfish and headed back to base.

\-------------------------------------

"Ugh… uh!"

In the Octoling military, it was expected that non-elites do 1 hour of exercise a day, and elites do 2 hours. This was to build up their strength, thus making them "more viable", in the words of the higher-ups.

Tessa was doing her daily routine and was 15 minutes in. At this point, she was doing chin-ups, which had begun to hurt, but Tessa shrugged off the pain.

"Tessa?"

"Cals?" Tessa dropped off the chin-up bar and fell onto the ground. She then stood up, took off her goggles, and adjusted her armor. "You don't-" she pointed at the Inkling, noticing that she didn't have her shades on.

"They went missing this morning, and Harry said that I'd have them back by the end of the day. Which gets me to something…"

"What?" Tessa asked.

"I think you're right about Harry. I saw him yelling at some young Octolings, and…"

Tessa put her hand on Callie's shoulder. "It's going to be okay. I promise."

Callie nodded. "I hope so."

\-------------------------------------

Later that day…

David, Kelly, Nick, and Cassie had decided that it would be a fairly good idea to head home early. Thus, Kelly was teaching David a little more "Human"

"Is it reXllX called tXaX?" David asked.

"No. Humans had tons of languages, but I felt like just generalizing it would be easier for you to understand. Now this line reads 'coming at you from every side'." Kelly answered.

By the time dinner rolled around, David had learned what he would sing in the song that Kelly had taught him. For dinner, mussels were on the menu.

Kelly poked at one of the mussels on her plate. "How can you eat like this?" She said.

"Our anXestXrs are lXke this, aXd our dieX never rXaXly changed oXer the XouXse of 12,000 yXarX of eXolutXon." Nick replied.

Otherwise, dinner was very calm.

\-------------------------------------

"David?"

"Yeah?"

Kelly walked into the bedroom that David and Nick shared. "Can I tell you a bedtime story?" She asked, sitting on the edge of his bed.

"I'm 16… but… sure." David replied.

"Once, there was a young girl. This young girl was polite and well behaved, and also quite smart." She paused. "But whenever she told the truth in school, she would be scolded and written up."

"But one day, her older brother returned from his job, and told the girl and her family of a great flood that was to come. He then said that he could spare somebody from it, and the young girl was chosen to do so. There were many tears, but the girl went to where she would stay for 12,000 years."

"Then, on her 16th birthday, the flood came, and washed all her worries and fears away." Kelly took a breath. "The young girl's name? Kelly Connell."

She looked to see if David was asleep, and he was, with only two thin, white lines showing where his closed eyes were. His body glowed slightly, in the same shade of dark blue that his ink was.

Kelly then kissed him straight on the lips for a few seconds. She then left after that, ready for a new day.


	12. Chapter 12

  
"You know what time it is?"

"It's Off The Hook, coming at you LIVE from Inkopolis Square!"

David, Kelly, Nick, and Cassie were in the middle of Inkopolis Square when Off The Hook came on. Meanwhile, Abigail and Micaela were heading over to the manhole that lead to Octo Canyon.

"Hey Marina! Tell the Inklings the good news!" Pearl said.

"But the Splatfest hasn't-" Marina replied. Pearl shot the Octoling a look. "Oh right, THAT news!" She turned to the audience. "There are a few new changes!"

"First off, a new rank has been added to Ranked Battles!" Pearl and Marina crossed their arms in a way that they formed an x. "X Rank is for the best of the best of the best of-"

"Pearl, I think that all the squids out there get the idea. Rank X replaces ranks S+10 and above. So, if you have that rank, you should notice that your rank has changed to X."

"Every month, you'll be fighting for X power. If you don't meet the month's quota at the end of the month, your rank will go back down to S+9."

"Also! A new shipment of gear came in!"

"If I remember correctly, there were 113 new pieces!"

"Four new weapons have also been shipped in, which is great and all, but now we have to listen to Sheldon go on and on and on and on about them…"

"He's nice and all, but slow down crabman! We don't have all day!"

"There have also been changes to weapons and gear abilities!"

"If you want to see the full details in regards to these, they are posted at the front of the Lobby."

"Finally, Camp Triggerfish has been reopened for Turf Wars and Ranked Battles!"

"Yeah! Now we'll have more places to battle!"

"That's a perfect segway into the stages in the current rotation! So here are the Regular Battle stages!"

The stages for Turf Wars were Camp Triggerfish and Piranha Pit.

"How do you make an octopus laugh? 8 tickles!"

Marina rolled her eyes. "#FIREPEARL!"

"Here are the Ranked Battle stages!"

"Can we go?" Kelly asked.

"Yeah, I guess. It's not like we're playing ranked or anything…" David said as Pearl and Marina announced the remainder of the stages.

"Let's go clothes shopping! There's tons of new gear, and I could really use a fresh new look!" Cassie said.

"What shop should we visit first?" Nick asked.

"Let's start from the top and work our way down!" Cassie said. "So, Headspace!"

The four headed to the shop, ready to make some irrational purchases.

\-------------------------------------

"Okay, let's take a break. Do some shopping." Abigail said.

"Why not?" Micaela said.

The two then headed across the square to Ye Olde Cloth Shoppe. A bell chimed, signaling the arrival of the Inkling and Inktoling. "How dost thou, cousins?" Jelfonzo asked.

"Good! I heard that a shipment of clothes came in last night!" Abigail said. "Where can I find them?"

Jelfonzo pointed to a display with the new clothes.

Abigail took a T-Shirt off one of the racks and read the tag. "Ink Wash Shirt. Looks nice."

Micaela took a few shirts off the rack. "Is there a changing room?" She asked.

"In the back. Now let's go!" Abigail said.

The pair had fun trying on different shirts, until picking a few out that they enjoyed.

The two paid, then headed out of the shop. "Where to next?" Abigail asked.

"Headspace?" Micaela asked.

"Sure!" Abigail said.

\-------------------------------------

Meanwhile…

"Why hello deXrX!"

Kelly, David, Nick, and Cassie walked into Headspace, hoping to buy some new headgear. The four looked around, wondering where the new gear was, before a sign that said "New" caught Kelly's eyes.

"Ready?" She asked, looking at the three squids.

David shrugged. "Sure."

Cassie ran to the display excitedly, and grabbed a few pieces of headgear. "Come on!" She said.

Kelly had fun trying on different headwear, but she knew that at the end, she would always keep the Fake Contacts that David had given her.

David was dragged into the "fun", as only Cassie was really excited at the prospect of getting new clothes.

Nick would have joined, but due to his vision problems, he couldn't really do anything.

"Come on NiXk!" Cassie said, annoyed.

Nick shrugged. "Sorry. I can'X."

Cassie then took a pair of White Arrowbands off of the display. "Here." She said. Nick put on the glasses, taking off his Retro Specs.

"How do I look?" He said.

"Great!" Kelly replied, winking. "What about me?" She was wearing a Golf Visor.

"Fresh!" David replied. "Me?"

"That Pilot Hat looks so cute on you!" Kelly said.

The four tried on multiple pieces of headgear, but eventually picked out a few pieces. They paid, then left the shop.

But as they were heading to Ye Olde Cloth Shoppe, the three Inklings and human ran into Abigail!

\-------------------------------------

"Oh carp!" Abigail said.

"Who are these?" Micaela asked.

"The blue one is David, my brother. We're twins. The turquoise one is Cassie, the green one is Nick, and the light pink one is Kelly."

"Nice to meet you!" Micaela said.

Abigail then noticed Cassie's new headgear. "New look?" She asked.

"Yeah. It's a Black Fishfry Bandana, and it looks really fresh!" Cassie replied.

"We're getting some clothing next." David explained.

"We're getting shoes, if you're interested." Micaela replied.

"Nah. I said we'd go from the top down, so I'm sticking to it." Cassie said.

"Well, bye! Stay fresh!" Abigail said.

Then, the six parted ways.

\-------------------------------------

"That's it! I'm sick of this!"

Tessa was hanging out with some of the other members of Squadron 86.

"Why?" Lauren, one of the members asked.

"I'm fed up with Harry and fed up with Octavio and fed up with this entire life! I've seen Inkopolis, and I'm going to live there!" She explained. "So, I'm going to need you guys to fake my death."

"Fake your- WHAT!?" The two other members said.

"If Harry thinks that I'm dead, then he won't go after me!"

"How are you even going to do that?" Aria, the second member, said.

"Simple! I grab a bunch of ink and spread it around so it looks like I died!"

"But, S.P.A.W.N. Pads exist!" Lauren said.

"That's why I'm planning to spread it around the manhole to the surface. So, I guess that it will look like I was killed trying to escape."

"BREAK'S OVER!" A voice said.

Tessa shuddered. "Well, gotta run!" She said, before running off to the weapon testing facility.

\------------------------------------

"That was really fun!" Kelly said, admiring the Annaki Polpo-Pic Tee that she had bought and was currently wearing.

Everyone had bought a few new shirts and a few new pairs of shoes. With the exception of David, everyone was wearing one of their new shirts and a pair of their new shoes. However, Kelly just had a new shirt on.

"I like thXs look, oXay?" He said.

Cassie rolled her eyes. "Really?"

"Well, it's getting late, so I think that we should go home." Kelly said.

"Yeah, yXu'rX right…" David replied.

So, the four headed home for dinner.

\-------------------------------------

Tessa was shooting at some of the Inkling cutouts that the weapon testing facility supplied when Callie came in.

"Hey, Tessa… you're right about Harry. I'm going to try and get away from him tomorrow."

"Cals? Hi!" Tessa replied. "Also, ditching Harry is a good thing. Trust me."

I've finally gotten through to her!   
Tessa thought.

"I know. He's been really mean to the Octolings, and the Octotroopers, and… if it's an octopus, he's a jerk to it. He swears that a ghost is haunting him too for what he's done!"

"Well, better now then never. You should ditch him now, when you can. Also, when's your next concert?"

"In 4 days. I'm not sure why, but it is."

"Thanks Cals."

Then, the two parted ways.

\-------------------------------------

Dinner was much more cheery then usual. Everyone showed off their new looks, and talked about the upcoming Splatfest. Abigail was even going to wait until night to do her agent duties!

They planned to go to the neighborhood's pool during the day, and relax a bit at home. Kelly was surprised at this, as water hurt Inklings, but David reassured her by saying that it was treated to be safe for squids.

Cassie then revealed the clothes that she had bought for Tessa. Tessa would still be wearing a Sneaky Beanie to cover up her tentacles, but she would be wearing an Octo Tee and a pair of Truffle Hi-Tops.

"Fresh!" David said.

Nick nodded in agreement.

But soon, it was time to go to bed. This time, Kelly didn't go and kiss David in his sleep, or collapse on the couch.

Instead, she got a good night's rest.


	13. Chapter 13

"We're Off The Hook, and we're coming at you live from the middle of Inkopolis Square!"

"The Sun vs. Moon Splatfest is officially live!"

"Did you see the ink Marina? It has glitter in it!"

"Glitter? They pulled out all the stops for this one!"

"Here are the stages in the current rotation!"

The stages were Inkblot Art Academy, Piranha Pit, and Shifty Station.

"We made a special stage for the Splatfest!"

"You made a stage for the Splatfest, Marina?"

"Yep!"

"But until next time…"

"Don't get cooked, stay off the hook!" Pearl and Marina said in unison.

\-------------------------------------

"Remember tXe darX!" Cassie said.

"Ready?" David asked, as he held his hand out towards Kelly.

Kelly blushed, than took it.

The two danced around the Square, being careful not to crash into any of the partying Inklings or jellyfish. Eventually, they made it to the voting station, where David stopped.

He pulled Kelly in closer.

Then, the two kissed, straight on the lips, where almost all of the squids in the Square could see them.

The two parted and Kelly smiled. "Was that legitimate? Cassie didn't say that we had to kiss."

David laughed. "Yeah. BXt it's not lXke we'rX boyfriend aXX girlfriend."

"Yeah. The whole cross-species thing is kinda gross." Kelly replied. "But that still doesn't mean that I can't have some feelings for you…"

"CAN WE SXART TUXFINX ALRXADX!" Cassie said.

"Sure!" David replied.

\-------------------------------------

"You ready? This takes us one step closer to Callie and the Great Zapfish!" Abigail said as she stood in front of the Boss Kettle.

"You bet!" Micaela said.

The two switched forms and headed to the area where the Octo Boss was waiting.

"I could use some more data on the Hero Charger, so you'll be using it to fight the Octo Boss." Sheldon said through the pair's headsets while a drone gave them their weapons.

"Well this got 10 times easier." Abigail said. "I main the Charger class." She explained.

The two agents then headed to the arena. Then, the fourth Octo Boss showed itself. It looked a bit like a shower head, held up by three Octocopters!

"Well, I guess that's why we're using Chargers!" Abigail said. "Follow me!"

Abigail inked the side of a large platform in the middle of the arena, and the two swam up it. Abigail then picked off one of the Octocopters. But when she tried to snipe another one, it flew all the way to the right side of the stage.

"After it!" Micaela yelled, before inking a path to the boss.

This time, Micaela was able to Splat one of the Octocopters, and Abigail got the last one. Micaela then took out the tentacle.

"Yeah!" Abigail said.

But then, it respawned, this time with four Octocopters!

"Come on!" Micaela said. "Can we go without the boss respawning for ONE BATTLE!"

"Well, let's keep going and press on!" Abigail said.

The two pressed on, with Abigail sniping away, and Micaela helping. Then, after a while, the boss was finally defeated.

The two retrieved the Zapfish, then headed back to base.

\-------------------------------------

Meanwhile…

"You see Kelly, there are ranks in a Splatfest. Fanboy/girl is the lowest, and King/Queen is the highest. So, we're going to be turfing for quite a bit to get you to that high rank!" David explained as they walked into the Lobby, followed by Nick and Cassie.

"Great!" Kelly said.

So, the four turfed for a while, and the stages rotated. Shifty Station was still on the list, and featured Inkfurlers that would take a squid to otherwise unaccessible areas. Kelly enjoyed the stage, as it was interesting.

\-------------------------------------

But when she was on Camp Triggerfish, she ran off a platform and fell into a pool of water.

Pain rushed through her entire body, as if she was being drowned in a tub of acid. "Ow!" She yelled, but noting happened. "Make it stop!" The pain was unbearable.

Then, everything went black for a few seconds, and she respawned.

'So that's why there isn't a proper shower…' Kelly thought.

She continued to cover the ground, looking at the sparkling ink that she was spreading. It was really pretty!

But then, an Inkling on Team Moon jumped out of a puddle of ink and splatted her!

Kelly's vision went dark for a few seconds, and then she was back at spawn. She tried to get off and continue to turf, but then, the game ended!

However, she and her teammates still snagged victory.

"Wanna continue?" David asked.

"Sure!" Kelly replied, and the four headed to a new game.

\-------------------------------------

"Ready to go?" Micaela asked.

"Sure! We're really close to finding Callie and the Great Zapfish!"

The two agents then switched forms and got onto the launchpad.

"I told you to go. But you didn't listen, did you, MARIE?"

"CALLIE! What… what have they done to you?!"

"No. No…" Abigail said under her breath.

"NOW GO! THEY WILL GET YOU SOON! I TOLD YOU LOUD AND CLEAR!"

"Stop Callie! This isn't you!" Marie yelled out.

"GO! GO AW-" Callie's voice cut out.

"That's it Agents 4 and 5. You guys are going to fight your hardest, and bring Callie back to her senses!"

"Okay!" Abigail said.

"Let's go!" Micaela said.

Then, the two arrived in the fifth and final area of Octo Canyon, Cephalon HQ.

"Look out Callie! We're coming for you!" Abigail said.

\-------------------------------------

Meanwhile…

"I have the ink, but only one liter, which won't be enough. Ugh!" Tessa said. "Plus, I'm not even sure where I can find more!"

"You know, you could always raid where the Octo Shower was stationed. It was recently defeated by Agents 4 and 5, so there's still fresh ink." Aria advised.

Tessa nodded. "Okay. I know where that is." She then headed out of the break room to where the Octo Shower was. As she did, she swore that she heard Callie screaming into a walkie-talkie. She didn't know why, however.

Soon, she made it to the arena and began collecting ink. Soon, she had enough, and headed back.

'Tomorrow's the big day. The day where I escape the surface. The day where I get Harry out of my life for what will hopefully be forever.' Tessa thought. She took a breath. Hopefully this would work.

If it didn't, than that would be the end of her.

\-------------------------------------

After a long night of turfing, Team High Tide headed home.

"The results will be coming out tomorrow, by the way." Nick explained to Kelly.

Kelly nodded. "Okay."

When the four got home, Abigail was waiting for them. "I'm really close to rescuing Callie and the Great Zapfish!" She happily said.

"Awesome!" David said.

Then, everyone headed to bed, as it was late, and everyone was tired.

Even then, the day was exciting, and a rest would be nice!


	14. Chapter 14

"Ink? Check. 4K Scope? Check. Armor? I hope that I'll be able to wear gear instead, but check. Ink tank? Check. I think that's it…"

Today was the day where Tessa would leave. The day where she would ditch all of the octopi that had given her trouble over the years. The day where she would make it to Inkopolis and make a name for herself. The day where she could be with Team High Tide without worrying about leaving early.

The day where she would be free.

Tessa ran to the only exit she knew of, the manhole that lead to the outside world. She started by dumping out all of the ink that she had collected from various sources, with the majority being from the Octoshower. She tried to arrange it to look like an Octoling had been killed, with that Octoling being her, at least to the residents of Octo Canyon.

She climbed up the ladder, and pushed up the cover. Light filled her eyes, and she squinted a little bit. Tessa climbed out, and took a breath. She was free.

The Octoling than headed to Inkopolis Square.

\------------------------------------

"Now, before we announce the stages in the current rotation, let's tell all the squids out there the good news!"

"Pearl, did you break something again?"

"Marina, you know what I mean! The Splatfest results have been calculated!"

"Okay then! Let's see what team was the most popular!"

The most popular team was Team Moon, 68.7% to 31.3%.

"Hey! I got the popularity vote!" Marina said.

"That's good and all, but you know that the popular team doesn't usually win." Pearl said. "Now let's see who won the most battles! This is where I swoop in-"

Marina sighed. "Nobody wants to hear you gloat, Pearl…"

Team Sun won in both of these departments, 51.9% to 49.1% in solo battles and 50.1% to 49.9% in group battles.

"Man, that was a close one! But even than, I won!" Pearl said.

"Well at least everybody had fun. I saw squids in both sides enjoying every single Turf War!" Marina said.

"Well you know what that means! According to Splatfest law, the sun is officially better than the moon, wether you like it or not!" Pearl said.

"Well, anyways, if you participated in the Splatfest, your Super Sea Snails are waiting for you in the Square." Marina said.

"Now let's get on to the current rotation!"

For Turf Wars, the stages would be The Reef and Piranha Pit.

Ranked was Tower Control, with the stages being Camp Triggerfish and Walleye Warehouse.

The final set of stages was for League Battles, which would be Rainmaker on Musselforge Fitness and Snapper Canal.

"So, wXat dX Super SeX SnXiXs do anXXays?" Kelly asked.

"There's this sea urchin named Murch who will reroll slots on your gear or add ability slots to a piece of gear for the price of 1 Super Sea Snail, among other things. I don't usually deal with him unless I absolutely need to." David said.

"Turf Wars?" Nick asked.

"Why not?" Cassie replied.

"Okay then!" David said.

The four than headed into the Lobby.

\------------------------------------

"This is the Herobrush. You use it by slashing at the air multiple times, as using it like a Roller doesn't deal the most damage. It's perfect for getting up close and personal!"

Abigail held the weapon that she had to use for the level. "Never been a fan of brushes, mainly because of the repeated slashing thing. But let's head forwards."

Abigail and Micaela than began heading deeper into the section of Octo Canyon. But soon, they ran into…

"Squidding invisible platforms… you can't even see the edges!" Abigail said, annoyed.

"Let's press on." Micaela said. She than noticed a Tentakook.

"Dibs!" Abigail said, before running up to the octopus and taking it out.

"Hey! It dropped a key!" Micaela said, before picking the aforementioned item up.

"I think that's where it goes." Abigail said, pointing to a lock.

Micaela then opened it, revealing a launchpad. The two agents headed over to it, switched forms, and headed to the next part of the area, where a group of Octotroopers and an Octoling were waiting for them!

The Inkling and the Inktoling than began to slash away at the enemies, taking them out with not much trouble, except for the Octoling, who had an Octobrush.

The Octoling swiped at Micaela, who jumped back. Abigail then snuck around it and took it out from behind.

"Thanks Abigail!" Micaela said.

"You're welcome!" Abigail replied.

The two then pressed on on their quest to find the area's Zapfish.

\----------------------------------

The four members of Team High Tide were walking out of the Lobby just as Tessa was heading towards it.

"Tessa!" Kelly said.

The Octoling smiled. "It's getting dark out, so I presume that you guys are heading home?"

"Yeah." David said. "You want to come, don't you."

Tessa nodded.

"Well, we could pull out that spare bed from our storage room…" Cassie said.

"Yeah, you're right." Nick said. He turned to Tessa. "We'll situate things for you, so you can come with us."

The Octoling than followed the three Inklings and human.

\-------------------------------------

"So, I gueXX that I can siXg to try and disXraXt Callie, and tXe four of you caX splat Xny Octarians thXX try to sXoX us!" Kelly said.s

"K-k-kill my own kind? Are you SURE that that will be ethical?" Tessa said.

"Hey, my sister fights you guys all the time! Also, don't you want revenge on your mean boss?" David said.

"Yeah… I guess so… even then, most Octarians are hooked up to spawn pads…" Tessa said. "I'll do it."

"So, there we go. Our final plan."

"I'll make some sort of outfit for you, if you want." Nick said.

"That wXulX be niXe…" Kelly said.

Abigail than came in, and David shoved everything related to their completed plan under the couch.

"WHAT DID YOU BRING IN THIS TIME!" Abigail shouted.

"You're Agent 4!" Tessa said, pulling out her E-Liter 4K Scope.

"You're an Octoling!" Abigail said.

"Calm down sis, she's nice." David said.

"Look, she doesn't want to be part of the military, so she's staying here." Nick said.

Annoyed, Abigail sat down at the table. "You do have food, right?"

David nodded and took something out of the fridge. "Fish."

Everyone sat at the table while David handed out dinner.

\-------------------------------------

"Hey, this fish is good!" Kelly said.

"Glad yXu likX it!" David replied.

Otherwise, the table talk at dinner was mainly Tessa and Abigail arguing. Kelly sighed. At least the Octoling would be sleeping in the living room with her.

Everything was set up after everybody was done, and everyone went to their respective rooms to sleep.

After all, the next few days were going to be eventful!


	15. Chapter 15

"So, Callie's concert is tomorrow?"

Tessa nodded.

"Well than, that's the big day!"

"Hey Kels…"

"What is it?"

"I think tXaX we cXuXd jog CalXie's meXoXy if you weXe to sXnX some songs Xy tXX Squid Sisters."

"I guess that would make sense…"

Abigail had just left to do Agent work, so Kelly, Nick, David, Cassie, and Tessa were seated around the dinner table, discussing what they would do for their Callie rescue mission.

"Do you have any lyrics, and are you willing to translate them into Human for me if you do?"

"I do!" Cassie happily said, before pulling a SquidPhone out of practically nowhere.

"Cassie, how dXd yXX do tXat?" Nick said.

"It wXs in my XaXk pocket. WXy?" Cassie replied. She had pulled up the lyrics to City of Color on her phone, but they were in Inkling, and thus, unreadable.

"Can you translate?" Kelly asked.

Cassie nodded, and began singing, which, surprising Kelly, was good.

"What's it called?"

"CiXy of Color." David said. "They wXulX perform tXe sXnX duriX Splatfests."

"David's sXill XaXty! DXvXd's stiXl salXy!" Cassie playfully taunted.

"No I'm not!" David yelled.

"What about another song?" Kelly asked.

"I'll fiXurX that XuX." Cassie said.

\-------------------------------------

"So, we're fighting Octolings. You nervous?"

"Not really."

"Classic Abigail!"

So, Abigail and Micaela switched forms and headed down the grate, where Octolings would be waiting.

The fight was on a makeshift recreation of Musselforge Fitness.

"Man, those Octolings really admire the stages for Turf Wars!" Micaela happily said.

"Yeah, right…" Abigail said.

The two than did their strategy of taking out all of the Octolings in a specific area of the map before taking the Mini Zapfish.

Soon, they had found all of the Mini Zapfish but 1.

"Where is it?" Abigail asked.

"Over there!" Micaela yelled, pointing to the cage holding the Mini Zapfish.

The two ran to get it, but than, they were surrounded by a group of Octolings!

The agents began firing away, and soon, they had the final Mini Zapfish and were heading back to the surface.

"So, one level left until we face the boss…" Abigail said.

"Yeah!" Micaela happily said.

The two super jumped to the kettle where their last level, until the boss, that is, was waiting.

\-------------------------------------

"So, one last streak of Turf Wars?" David asked.

Kelly nodded.

David, Kelly, Nick, and Tessa were in front of the Lobby, ready to Turf it out for a few hours before Kelly practiced.

Soon, they were playing a game of Turf Wars on Wahoo World, which to David, was a pain to navigate.

"I've always hated squidding rotating platforms!" He yelled as he tried to run across the platform that connected the two sides, in a sad attempt to reach the opponent's base.

But than, he heard Kelly. Being himself, David super jumped to his human friend and prepared to unleash a Splashdown when he got to her, damaging and possibly splatting anyone who was attacking her.

When he landed, he hit the ground as hardly as possible with his left hand, activating the Splashdown. As he was on the ground, a circular wave of ink washed around him, splatting the Inkling that was trying to attack Kelly.

[I]'Good thing that I don't have bones. If I did, I'd probably break my arm every time I tried to use a Splashdown!' David thought to himself.

"T-thanks…" Kelly said, blushing a little bit.

"Come on. We need to cover as much ground as possible!" David said, before proceeding to cover at much ground as he could. Kelly followed along.

Soon, the match was over, resulting in victory for Team High Tide.

"Yeah!" Tessa said. "We won!"

David nodded.

"So, want to do a few more Turf Wars, and then some Ranked?" Nick asked.

"Heck yeah!" Kelly said.

So, the four did a final streak of Turfing.

\-------------------------------------

"That's it!" Micaela happily said.

"Uh huh!" Abigail replied.

Marie walked up to the two agents.

"4, 5… I've seen that you've found your last Zapfish…" she said.

Abigail nodded.

"That means that you'll be facing the final boss that the Octarians are going to throw at you, along with saving both the Great Zapfish and Callie!" A worried look crossed Marie's face. "Hopefully she isn't dead…" she said under her breath.

"Wait. How do you know that this is the end?" Micaela asked.

"I have my ways."

Abigail began to prepare to super jump to the entrance to Octo Canyon. "See ya tomorrow!" She told Marie and Micaela.

A few minutes later, she was back home.

\-------------------------------------

"What's for dinner?" Kelly asked. Team High Tide and Tessa had just returned, and David was preparing dinner.

"Calamari." David said.

A surprised look crossed Kelly's face. She knew that some species of squid were cannibalistic, but her friends eating other squids felt just wrong.

"JXst kiXXing!" David laughed. "It's oystXrs."

Kelly sighed in relief as David put a plate of cooked oysters in front of her. "Hey David, you hit the ground with your left hand when you were using the Splashdown earlier, correct?"

David nodded.

"I've only seen you do that, so why don't you hit the ground with your right hand?"

"I'X ambidextroXs." David said.

"Cool! I've never met someone who's like that!" Kelly said.

"AnXeayX, hoX lonX are we kXeXing Tessa fXr?" Abigail asked.

"Hey!" Tessa shouted.

"AX linX as nXXd be. WXiXh may bX a while." David replied.

Abigail groaned.

\-------------------------------------

Soon, dinner was over, and everyone called it a night.

Kelly laid down on the couch, as usual, and closed her eyes. But she couldn't fall asleep.

So, her solution was to do something that she hoped that David wouldn't learn about. She walked to the room where the boys slept, and walked over to David's bed. Kelly then proceeded to gently lift up the Inkling's head, making sure not to hurt him.

Then, she kissed David on the lips for a few seconds, before putting his head back down and leaving. Kelly wasn't sure if kissing David on the lips in his sleep was the best judgement call, but she felt better after doing it.

She fell asleep before her head hit the pillow once she got back to her bed.


	16. Chapter 16

"This is it." Abigail said as she stood on top of the final boss kettle.

"Yep." Micaela replied.

"I'm just glad that we got to choose our weapons!" Abigail said, Hero Charger in hand.

"So? Let's go!" Micaela said.

The two switched forms, and headed down to their final challenge.

\-------------------------------------

"Testing! Testing! Is this thing on?" Kelly said, making sure that her microphone was working.

"Yep!" David said.

Kelly, David, Tessa, Cassie, and Nick were waiting in Squadron 86's vault, waiting for Abigail to arrive. Tessa had put on her new gear, and had stuffed her tentacles under her Sneaky Beanie so nobody knew that she was really an Octoling. To make her look more believable, Cassie had used a makeup pencil to draw a line between Tessa's eyes.

Than, Kelly heard footsteps, and saw two figures walking towards the center of the Octarian Concert Hall.

"It's starting…" Tessa said.

\-------------------------------------

"Hello? Anyone here?" Abigail asked. She than noticed a figure in front of her, with its back turned. But there was something… off about it.

"No… they really did take her…" Micaela said.

Than, the figure turned.

"CALLIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NO!!!!!!!!!!!"

"You two don't seem to quit, do you?" Callie said, grinning.

"No! We don't quit! Because we're Agents 4 and 5!" Abigail said.

"Well than…"

Than, a large robot rose out of the ink.

"You can't handle my spicy wasabi beats!" Its operator said.

Abigail lightly held the trigger on her Hero Charger. Micaela did the same with her Hero Shot.

"Who the squid are you?" Abigail said through gritted teeth.

"DJ Octavio, you slimy squid!"

"Well then! We're going to kick your butt and take back Callie and the Great Zapfish!"

Callie than spoke. "Turn them into calamari, DJ! To our first single of the night… Bomb Rush Blush!"

"Wait a minute… so that's why they named Callie and I that way…" Marie said through the pair's headsets.

But than, Abigail heard a crashing noise!

"We're herX to tXkX Callie bXcX!"

\-------------------------------------

"We're here to take Callie back!" Kelly said.

"OcXolinXs, keXp them XccXpiXd!" Octavio said.

"Ahhh!" Tessa said as Octolings surrounded the group and began attacking them.

"Callie! Come back!" Kelly said, before beginning to quietly sing City of Color, in hopes of Callie hearing it and remembering her past self.

Whatever it did, it failed. Callie still seemed to have the personality that she had when the group had first encountered the former idol.

\-------------------------------------

"Abigail! Watch out!" Micaela yelled.

Abigail looked up to see a fist coming out of the Octobot King, and quickly ran out of the way. The fist retracted.

"How should we do this?" Abigail yelled.

"Do you think that the fists can be inked?"

"Let's try next-"

Another fist came out, targeting Micaela. She shot at it, and to her surprise, it was inkable! "Shoot it!" She yelled. Soon, it was covered with green ink.

Abigail gave it one last shot with her Hero Charger, and to her surprise, the fist hit the Octobot King! She grinned, than turned to her fellow agent. "If we ink it enough, it will do damage!" She happily said.

That was before multiple Splat Bombs covered the ground. "Oh carp…" Micaela said.

"RUN!" Abigail yelled, before doing so.

Two fists targeted the pair of agents, but this time, they were spinning! Abigail tried to shoot at it, but to her dismay, the ink came right off!

"You can't deflect the spinning ones!" Abigail yelled.

"Good to know!" Micaela said in reply, before shooting some ink on the ground and quickly refilling her tank. After, Abigail did the same.

After a while, DJ Octavio fell out of the Octobot King!

"We did enough damage to get him out!" Abigail happily said.

"But who will do the honors?" Micaela said.

"I will… I guess…" Abigail said with a slightly nervous tone in her voice. She had taken out many Octolings throughout her time as Agent 4, but the Inkling felt a little nervous to take out their leader.

But a few shots later, Octavio was thrust back into the Octobot King.

"For the love of all that is ten-legged and woomy, can bosses just. Stop. Respawning!" Micaela said.

"4, 5, Sheldon and I will be there to help you soon. Just hold up for a few minutes!" Marie said through the usage of the two agent's headsets.

"Well, looks like we just have to keep going!" Abigail yelled.

\-------------------------------------

Meanwhile…

All David could focus on was taking out Octolings. Not what his sister was doing. Not Callie and Octavio. Just fighting and staying alive.

He didn't know how Cassie and Tessa were doing, as they had their backs facing him. He would occasionally glanced to see how Nick was doing, and he was fine.

When David had refill his ink tank, however, Nick kept an eye on him, and David did the same if Nick ran out of ink.

But then, a male Elite Octoling walked up to him.

"You're the dumb octopus from 5 days ago!" David yelled.

"Why yes, I am. I will still uphold my promise. Give me the girl, or I will kill her." The Octoling said. David than noticed that the Octoling was holding the same gun from before. "Plus, your friend with the Splatling is occupied."

David gripped his Splat Roller harder.

Then, Tessa noticed the Octoling that was taunting David. She charged up a shot with her E-Liter 4K Scope, and splatted him for David.

David sighed in relief when the Octoling got splatted. Now he could focus on taking on Octolings.

"When will these dang octopi stop!" David yelled out in frustration.

"Most are hooked up to spawn pads, so I'm not sure!" Tessa replied.

"Dang." David said.

\-------------------------------------

"Suction Bombs!" Abigail yelled as the aforementioned bombs were thrown at her and Micaela.

"Dodging then is like dodging Tenta Missiles! You just have to run and get out of their damage radius!" Abigail yelled before doing just so.

Another fist was thrown at them, and Abigail shot it back.

'I hope that Marie can come soon…'  
Abigail thought as she jumped out of the way of a spinning fist.

The two kept up with what they were doing, and then, once Octavio had been taken out for a second time…

"Agent 4! Agent 5! We're here!"

\-------------------------------------

Abigail looked up to see Marie on top of the truck that she and Calle would stand on when there was a Splatfest. But there were… rocket boosters attached to it? Abigail then noticed that Sheldon was driving it.

"Callie! Callie! It's me! Marie! You're cousin!" Marie said.

Callie glared at her. "I never had a cousin. Ever."

Marie said something under her breath that Abigail couldn't make out and picked up a Hero Charger. Marie aimed, and perfectly sniped off the Hypnoshades that Callie had been wearing.

"Uhhh…" Callie seemed to be dazed.

Then, Marie started singing.

'Tide Goes Out…'  
Abigail thought.

"Let's keep going!" Micaela said, inking one of the Octobot King's fists when it tried to hit her.

"Okay!" Abigail yelled, before doing so.

But then, a shower of ink appeared from the bottom of the Octobot King, which moved towards the two agents!

"Inkcoming!" Abigail yelled as she pushed her fellow agent out of the way.

"Thanks."

\-------------------------------------

Kelly sat down, defeated. Her singing had done next to nothing. The girl sighed.

'If only I had my N-Zap. Then I could be useful…'

She looked at David, who was taking out Octolings one by one. He was good with the Splat Roller, or at least better than she was.

So, Kelly just watched what Abigail and the other agent were doing.

Dodging fists, inking the ground, running away from Bombs… they were good. Kelly could never had done things like that at all.

'Stop being so hard on yourself!'   
Kelly thought. So, she thought about some of the positive things going on.

Callie was going to be rescued, alongside the Great Zapfish. The octopi that lived down here would be defeated. Tessa could escape once and for all. There was a lot of good things that would be happening.

Kelly quietly began to sing alongside Marie. It wouldn't do anything, but she wanted to try.

After all, a small thing could go a long way, right?

\-------------------------------------

'When will these dang octopi quit! I've been fighting then for what feels like forever!'  
David thought to himself.

He snuck a glance at Kelly, just to see that she wasn't doing too good. She seemed sad, but that was all he could figure out until he had to fight some more.

Then, a low ink warning popped up, meaning that he had to refill his ink tank. "Nick, cover for me!" He said before diving into a small puddle of dark blue ink. Yelling would have caught the attention of the swarm of Octolings.

Once he was done, he began to flick away with his Splat Roller, taking out Octolings with each one. He was glad that he had been using the Splat Roller for 2 years, as he was a pro with it.

But they just kept coming. So, David kept going, even if he didn't want to.

\-------------------------------------

Tessa knew that she was free, but she still had to fight. She was a little uneasy with temporarily killing her kind at first, but taking out Harry helped. Now, she'd take out octopi one by one, knowing that she had possibly killed Harry once and for all.

She had to constantly refill the ink tank that David had given her, as each shot that came out of her E-Liter depleted 25% of it. Tessa had gotten used to using the E-Liters, both scoped and unscoped, but the weapon ate through her ink tank faster than one could say "Inklings are evil and should all be killed."

She kept on going, glad that Cassie was covering her. After all, all scoped chargers blindsided their users, which was their one main drawback. Plus, the E-Liter's scopes variant took forever to charge, which was why few cephalopods used it.

"I'm really close to the end of this. I hope." Tessa said.

Little did she know that she was true.

\-------------------------------------

"Callie! Remember our song! The heavenly melody! Calamari Inkcantation!" Marie yelled.

Abigail watched as Marie tried to save her cousin. But then…

"I-I remember now." Callie said, before jumping into the top of the truck. A pink aura surrounded her, and when she reached the truck, she was in the clothes that she had worn before her disappearance.

Then, they started singing.

Abigail then noticed David jumping down from where he was fighting the Octolings, which had gone away.

"Let's settle this score." He said.

Then, a drone carried a weapon to the middle of the arena. It was the Rainmaker!

David swam to it, and picked it up. He turned to Abigail. "I'm the Callie fan. So, I think that I'm going to avenge her. Okay?"

"Sure thing, bro." Abigail said, nodding her head.

So, David walked over to the launchpad that had appeared near where the Rainmaker originally was, switched forms, and headed to the two Inkrails that had appeared out of thin air.

"You know how to do this, right? Ink the fists, and they'll do damage. The spinning fists can't be inked!" Abigail yelled.

So, David took her advice, and did what she had instructed. Whenever a non-spinning fist came towards him, he shot it and jumped in case he missed. If the fist was spinning, the Inkling would jump up so it couldn't hit him.

Then, Octavio was down, and a third Inkrail appeared.

So David jumped on it, and as he delt the final blow, he yelled, "THIS IS FOR WHAT YOU DID TO CALLIE!"

When his final shot landed, he was showered with a wave of dark blue ink, and his vision faded to nothing but darkness.

\------------------------------------

"David! DXvid? Are yXX awake?" Kelly yelled.

The Inkling's eyes slowly opened. "K-Kelly?"

"Yes, it'X me. NoX, why dXn't you gXt up."

David slowly got up and stretched. He looked around to see that he was somewhere new. "Where am I?" He asked.

"Tentakeel Outpost. It's pretty, right?" Abigail asked.

Then, David noticed that Callie and Marie were also there. "Callie? Marie?" He asked.

"You're up!" Callie said.

"Yeah. Heh heh." David looked around to see that only Abigail, Kelly, and the other agent were there, alongside the Squid Sisters.

Micaela noticed the confused look on David's face. "Everyone else went home. Also, I might as well introduce myself." She held out her hand. "Micaela. Nice to meet you. I'm an Inktoling."

David then noticed all of the ink on his shirt. "What… happened?"

"Oh. I wXs trXing tX do CPR on yXu, aXd you cXnstanXly cougXed up ink." Kelly said before blushing a little. "I aXso kiXXed you."

"Kissed me?" David asked.

"Uh huh." Kelly nodded.

"ENOUGH WITH THIS GROSS MUSH!" Abigail yelled.

Marie laughed. "It's a little cute tough."

So, the two Inklings, one Inktoling, and human headed home.

\-------------------------------------

"So, what's for dinner exactly?" Kelly asked.

"CrXst BucXet takeout. I'm tXo tXred tX cooX." David put a bag of Crusty Seanwhiches on the table, then took them out one by one, putting them into plates.

Kelly was a little nervous to try the food at first, but then she took a bite, and it was amazing. "THIS IS AWESOME!" She said.

"CXn you be a XittXe quiXter?" Cassie said.

"Sure!" Kelly said.

\-------------------------------------

When dinner was over, Kelly changed and lied down on her couch, thinking about what had happened that day.

'I need to go to sleep now…'  
Kelly thought.

So, she did.

\-------------------------------------


	17. Chapter 17

"You all know what time it is?"

"It's Off The Hook, coming at you LIVE from Inkopolis Square!"

"Here are the-" Pearl said, before being cut off by an Inkling handing her a sheet of paper.

"Marina! Breaking news!"

"Breaking news? The Splatfest just happened, and there hasn't been anything new going on…"

"The Great Zapfish has been returned! Plus, Callie has been found!" Pearl said.

"Wow, I do not see how those two events are connected." Marina said, a tone of sarcasm in her voice.

"The Squid Sisters are back together too! They've even released a new song!"

"Shall we give it a listen?"

Fresh Start then began to play in the Square.

Abigail nodded her head to the music, hearing the familiar voices of Callie and Marie. It had been a few days since she and Micaela had saved the Great Zapfish and rescued Callie.

Due to there only being four squids on a Turf War team, Team High Tide had broken up into two teams. David, Kelly, Abigail, and Nick were on the new Team High Tide, and Cassie, Tessa, Micaela, and another Inkling, Lauren, were on Team Tidal. The two teams would constantly practice and hang out together.

"Abigail? Sis?" David asked.

"Oh! Uh…" Abigail responded.

"Were you spacing out again?"

Abigail nodded her head. "I guess…" she noticed that her twin brother was holding Kelly's hand.

"Wanna play some Ranked?" David said, in hopes of cheering up his sister.

"Yeah! It'll bX fXn!" Kelly said.

"I-I guess." Abigail said.

So, the three, accompanied by Nick, headed into a game of Splat Zones.

\-------------------------------------

The map was Camp Triggerfish, which had always been a favorite of Kelly's, despite falling off of it once. She laughed a little, even tough it wasn't fun falling into water.

Soon, Team High Tide had made progress, and was in control, with the three Inklings and human making sure to cover the ink that belonged to the enemy.

The game ended in a knockout win in their favor.

The team headed out of the Lobby, as they were meeting up with Team Tidal. As Kelly walked, David lightly touched her hand, and she blushed.

The four sat down at a table and began to wait. Then, Kelly broke the silence by saying, "David?"

The Inkling looked at her. "WhXt is iX Kels?"

"I've thought some things over, and I want to ask. Will… will you be my boyfriend?" Kelly covered her face.

David put a hand on her shoulder. "Of course I Xill."

"T-thank you. You took me in when I found you, Nick, Cassie, and even Tessa. You didn't get mad at me either just because I was a human. You were fine with helping me find gear and a weapon, and getting me new ones when I needed them. Thank you so much!" She got out of her seat, walked over to David, and hugged him.

Kelly still felt a little grossed out because David was technically a squid, but he was nice, and Kelly liked him. Then she remembered a thing that she learned once long ago, before all of this had happened, when she was still in school.

Kelly was flipping through her textbook, wondering if there was anything good and readable in it, as plants were something that she didn't want to learn about.

She then came across a page in a chapter titled "The Amazing Ocean", which had pictures of sea creatures, and facts about them, alongside the normal textbook information. She saw one of a squid, which was captioned with, "Squids, like other cephalopods, have three hearts." There was a bunch of other notes on squids, that she didn't care to read.

'You learn something new every day…'

"Kelly? AXe you okXy?" David asked.

"Y-yeah. Since Inklings evolved from squids, does that mean that Inklings have three hearts?"

David nodded his head. "I guess that it means that I can love you three times more."

"Ugh…" Abigail said. "We hXd to wXtch all of thXt XuXh…"

"SquXd it. I'm lXaXing."

So, Abigail and Nick went off to… somewhere, leaving David and Kelly alone.

Kelly then leaned in closer to David, and kissed him. David smiled and laughed a little. Kelly backed away a few moments later.

"Hey! There's Team Tidal!" Kelly waved to the team.

"Where aXe NicX and AbiXaiX?" Tessa asked.

"Somewhere." Kelly shrugged.

"Let's fix finX them!" David said.

\-------------------------------------

Abigail and Nick were trying on some shirts at Ye Olde Cloth Shoppe. Abigail was putting on a Zekko Hoodie while Nick was wearing a Kensa Coat.

"Hey guys!" Tessa said.

"Hi!" Abigail said.

Tessa then noticed a look cross Kelly's face. "What is it?" She asked her.

"David, dX yoX stXlX have my WhiXe Inky RiXer?" Kelly said.

David nodded.

"CaX I hXvX it?"

David handed the piece of gear to her, and Kelly went into a changing room.

When, she came out, she was wearing the exact same outfit that she had on about a week ago.

Cassie looked at her and sighed. "If you wanted to keep your old clothing on, you could of told us. The shirt that you bought costed 6,660 G!"

"So?" Kelly shrugged.

"Can we go?" Abigail asked.

"Sure, why not?" David replied.

\-------------------------------------

The two teams then set up a private game of Tower Control.

"Let's go!" David yelled as his team raced to the center of the stage to the tower. Kelly threw a Suction Bomb at it, and the four climbed up on the tower.

But a few seconds later, David noticed multiple circular markers below his feet.

"TENTA MISSILES! RUN!" He jumped if the tower, and prepared to flick his Splat Roller at the other team if need be.

The teams fought back and forth, until the game ended up in overtime. But then, Team High Tide took the lead and won.

"Yeah!" Kelly said happily.

"Nice." David replied.

The teams played a few more games, and even a few mini games, until it was late. So, they headed home.

"What's fXr diXnXr David?" Kelly asked.

"Lobster. Don't worry, it's pretty good, but it takes quite some time to cook. So we can hang out."

"I've had iX bXforX…"

So, Kelly and David hung out together, and Kelly taught the Inkling a little more 'Human'.

"Human's kinda hard to figure out…" David complained.

"You'll gXt iX somXdaX. Just nXt toXaX."

But then, dinner was ready. David handed out the lobster and everything that was necessary to eat it.

"This iX grXat! JuXt likX all of yXuX cooking…" Kelly said.

"Heh. Thanks!" David said.

\-------------------------------------

'I can't believe, that after 2 weeks of adventure and fun, things are winding down…'

Than, just as Kelly was about to close her eyes, she saw something that was glowing, and moving towards her. It then turned on the light.

"WHO'S THERE?" Kelly yelled, grabbing her N-Zap from the able on front of the couch.

"CaXm doXn, its jXsX me…"

"David?"

David sat down next to her.

"Are you nervous? About how Abigail reacted to the two of us becoming a couple? I know that it's technically an interspecies romance, but you look so much like a human when you're not in squid form…"

David put a hand on Kelly's shoulder. "It's oXaX. Abigail's uXuaXly like tXat."

"Okay. Just a question. Now that the Great Zapfish has been returned because of Abigail and Micaela's help, and that there are two teams, will things be boring?"

"Inkopolis iX beXeX borXng. Trust mX."

"Good."

David then looked at the clock. "YXu shouXd get tX beX. Night!" Then, he left.

Kelly laid down on her bed, knowing one thing. Even tough she was the last known human, she wasn't alone. 


End file.
